OK, I need to name a world for publication where some scouts caught a plague which killed most of the crew. I was thinking of Nurgle as an inside joke, but can't find out if I will be stepping on IP toes by using the name. Any ideas?

Quote from: jeff37923;1020737OK, I need to name a world for publication where some scouts caught a plague which killed most of the crew. I was thinking of Nurgle as an inside joke, but can't find out if I will be stepping on IP toes by using the name. Any ideas?

I believe so. GW are anal retentive about people playing with their toys (ironic, I know) and really don't have a sense of humor.

But if I remember right Nergal is basically the same thing and predates GW's guy.

Nurgle as a god of disease is deeply in GW's IP.  

Nergal as a historical god is a sun deity who wound up ruling the underworld, not so big with the poxes and plagues.

This is the same Games Workshop that used Michael Moorcock's IP for decades without compensation?

Quote from: Krimson;1020760This is the same Games Workshop that used Michael Moorcock's IP for decades without compensation?

Yeah, well, Games Workshop lie a lot about the extent of copyright protection, and many other things. In the Dolphin(?) lawsuit I saw they got the US judge to agree they had a copyright in "big shoulder pads", when any Gen X British nerd could have told him their big shoulder pad WH40K look was ripped straight from the pages of 1980s "2000 AD".

The Exxon v Exxon Insurance case established that there is no such thing as a single-word copyright in UK law. There is no copyright in the word Nurgle.

There is non-literal copyright infringement, but for a literary work you have to take a lot more than just a word (comparing Ravenscroft v Herbert to the Da Vinci Code case, it's clear that a substantial chunk of the work must be taken). And there is no such thing as a character copyright in UK law separate from the underlying literary work.

Edit: All that said, for a US-based publisher who just wants to make a joke, I'd advise use Nergal not Nurgle. Dealing with rapacious New York copyright lawyers is never fun.

Yeah, just go with Nurgul, Nrrgle, or Pustulex that All-Pusser. I don't see the benefit of using the same spelling, even if it is an good joke for you. It's all fun and games until you get a subpoena.

Use Burgle, thereby burgling 5/6 of Nurgle and getting two jokes at once.

Copyright? No. You can't copyright a name or short phrase or even the idea. You can only copyright the exact expression of the idea in words and images. You can't steal GW's art or copy & paste their text, but if you want to draw your own picture or write up your description in your own words of a big bloated sack of pus and say it's the god of disease, they can't stop you.

Trademark? Yes. If you say "Nurgle is the big bloated pus sack God of Disease", they can smack you for infringing on their trademark because they own the name "Nurgle" in reference to bloated disease gods. You could probably get away with using the name Nurgle for a completely unrelated product (like liquid drain cleaner) where there's no chance of someone confusing the two.

Copyright means "don't Xerox my shit!"
Trademark means "if you manufacture photocopiers, don't name them Xerox because that name is already taken".

QuoteTrademark? Yes. If you say "Nurgle is the big bloated pus sack God of Disease", they can smack you for infringing on their trademark because they own the name "Nurgle" in reference to bloated disease gods. "

Not a good example. Nurgle would only be a trademark if it is being used  to identify a product in the marketplace; what you are describing here would be a copyrighted character. Superman is the trademarked title of a magazine; the red-and-blue strongman character inside the magazine is copyrighted but anyone can use the name so long as they don't infringe; no one else can use the title for a magazine. I could make a magazine called Really Neat Comics and use a character named Superman inside it as long as I leave that name off the cover and he doesn't resemble the copyrighted version.

See Captain Marvel/Shazam! for more exciting situations vis-a-vis trademarks.

Id advise against using Nurgle. Strongly advise against it.

Using Negral/Nergel/whatever might allow you to dodge the bullet. But theres a 75-90 percent likelyhood GW will try to sue you anyhow as its a plague god/demon/disease whatever.

Using Nergal in the classical sense theyd 90-100 percent chance try to sue you.

"Distinctive Likeness" can also be trademarked.

Be very careful even coming close to GW IP. They can afford to pay better lawyers for longer than you can. This means a very high likelyhood that they will prevail in any legal case, simply because you will have to give up fighting first.

Maybe Elgrun?

Quote from: David Johansen;1020741But if I remember right Nergal is basically the same thing and predates GW's guy.

Nergal is the name of a Mesopotamian Deity. The first appearance of that name in recorded history happened during the Third Dynasty of Ur, over 4000 years ago. If you use that spelling, I think you are in the clear.

Quote from: Krimson;1020830Nergal is the name of a Mesopotamian Deity. The first appearance of that name in recorded history happened during the Third Dynasty of Ur, over 4000 years ago. If you use that spelling, I think you are in the clear.

This is GW we are talking about. Im surprised they havent tried to sue museums.