Usage of Elite Systems names in fiction ? Copyright ??
- Thread starter pfsinn
- Start date
Many system names are just real places, you can't stop people from using them. The ED specific ones are part of the ED setting so if you used those you'd have to get dispensation.
- HIP - from the Hipparcos catalogue
- LFT, LTT, NLTT, LHS - all from various catalogues composed by Willem Luyten
- HD - from the Henry Draper catalogue
- BD and CD - from the Bonner Durchmesterung catalogue
- GJ - from the Gliese catalogue of nearby stars (sometimes also named, e.g., Gliese 123)
- 2MASS - from the 2-Micron All Sky Survey
- Latin (and other) names - from a list of proper names of stars. Phekda, Eta Carinae, Sagittarius A* and Alioth are good examples.
Systems named COL-285 Sector 4A-D 34-4H are procedurally generated. The alphanumeric designation gives important information about star class, it seems. These would be covered by Frontier's copyright.
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The grey area could be the player named systems that people paid money to name in the kickstarter, they might have some ownership over them, or like Beagle Point and Colonia both of which were named by the same player, Erimus Kamzel, via the Galactic Mapping Project and which Frontier later adopted. Despite being player named I think Frontier probably own the rights to them.
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Great info , I was leaning towards an HD system just for a short name anyway.
TY
If they are in this list definitely check. See this post:
forums.frontier.co.uk
Systems from Elite (1984) in Elite Dangerous
In Drew Wagar's recent stream in which he spoke at length about the mystery of Raxxla, he posited his theory that there may be a clue hidden in the systems that Frontier chose to hand place in Elite Dangerous from the original game. He states that as far as he could tell, the only systems that...
@OP - The issue of IP or Copyright also includes a factor known as Derivative Use. This is the idea behind fan fiction and shared universes. You are creating original content within the IP holder's material.
If you are planning on writing within the Elite universe for personal use, Frontier has given that right to players. Anyone that has role played on the forums, or other venues, has performed Derivative Use.
You would need an IP attorney to tell you what is and is not legal in any given jurisdiction, but that is the general idea.
On the other hand, Copyright may or my not apply if you are writing outside the Elite universe. It would, as pointed out above, depend on common usage. As an example outside of the Star Catalogs, Aldebaran is a common Sci-Fi name.
Please note, I am writing in terms of personal, not for profit, use. The laws become different when you are trying to earn money from the works.
YMMV and IAMNAL.
If you are planning on writing within the Elite universe for personal use, Frontier has given that right to players. Anyone that has role played on the forums, or other venues, has performed Derivative Use.
You would need an IP attorney to tell you what is and is not legal in any given jurisdiction, but that is the general idea.
On the other hand, Copyright may or my not apply if you are writing outside the Elite universe. It would, as pointed out above, depend on common usage. As an example outside of the Star Catalogs, Aldebaran is a common Sci-Fi name.
Please note, I am writing in terms of personal, not for profit, use. The laws become different when you are trying to earn money from the works.
YMMV and IAMNAL.
Everything changes when $$$ gets involved. 
For anything which might originally have been created by Frontier for Elite (Dangerous), you want this: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/elite-dangerous-media-usage-rules.510879/
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