O NOES

[captainspud]

I better go delete Lindsay Lohan FAST before I get SUED!

:o

Volt Stryke: hey can I join ur team plz
Me: Nope!
Volt Stryke: y not plz
Me: Call it the fickle finger of fate. 'Tis simply not to be.
Volt Stryke: w/e ur weird... well reporting ur character for using a name of a star
Me: It's not a copyrighted character. Good luck with that.
Volt Stryke: yea wait for me to tell the company of lohan
Me: Uh-huh. You get right on that.
Volt Stryke: just watch me cuz I work there
Me: Wow, what are the odds! I am so unlucky!

[ow_tiobe_sb]

Me: Wow, what are the odds! I am so unlucky!

Not as unlucky as I will be, Spud, if Volt Stryke discovers that I named a toon after his RL name: Daft Wanker.

:o

ow_tiobe_sb
Phantom Bunburyist and You Know the Rest

[bearded]

I better go delete Lindsay Lohan FAST before I get SUED!

:o

Volt Stryke: hey can I join ur team plz
Me: Nope!
Volt Stryke: y not plz
Me: Call it the fickle finger of fate. 'Tis simply not to be.
Volt Stryke: w/e ur weird... well reporting ur character for using a name of a star
Me: It's not a copyrighted character. Good luck with that.
Volt Stryke: yea wait for me to tell the company of lohan
Me: Uh-huh. You get right on that.
Volt Stryke: just watch me cuz I work there
Me: Wow, what are the odds! I am so unlucky!

you play a girl?

[Zapow]

I'm pretty sure the EULA also applies to using the names and likenesses of public figures as well. They don't really enforce it though.

[captainspud]

Where?

I can't even find the bit about not being able to make comic characters.

[BlueBard]

Where?

I can't even find the bit about not being able to make comic characters.

On the contrary... it appears to be spelled out quite thoroughly:

You must choose an account name to identify yourself to NC Interactive staff (your "Account ID") on both the master service account ("PlayNC account") as well as a game-specific account ("Game(s) account"). You may not select as your Account ID the name of another person, or a name which violates any third party's trademark right, copyright, or other proprietary right, or which may mislead other players to believe you to be an employee of NC Interactive or its affiliated companies, or which NC Interactive deems in its sole discretion to be vulgar or otherwise offensive. NC Interactive reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (1) delete or alter any Account ID or ® terminate any license granted herein, for any reason whatsoever, including, without limitation, any suspected or actual infringement of any trademark or trade name right, copyright, or other proprietary right or (3) delete any content published on any electronic boards without notice. You have sole liability for all activities conducted through your Account or under your Account ID.

Message Board ID. You have the option to create a Message Board ID for use on the official Game(s) message boards. You may not select as your Message Board ID the name of another person, or a name which violates any third party's trademark right, copyright, or other proprietary right, or which may mislead other players to believe you to be an employee of NC Interactive, or which NC Interactive deems at its sole discretion to be vulgar or otherwise offensive. NC Interactive reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (1) delete or alter any Message Board ID or ® terminate any license granted herein, for any reason whatsoever, including, without limitation, any suspected or actual infringement of any trademark or trade name right, copyright, or other proprietary right. You have sole liability for all activities conducted under your Message Board ID. In the event your Account does not provide for recurring monthly billing, your ability to communicate or post messages on the official Game(s) message board will be suspended and/or terminated.

(e) Character Name. In order to use the Service, you must create a character and choose a name for your character to identify your character to other Members (your "Character Name"). You may not select as your Character Name the name of another person, or a name which violates any third party's trademark right, copyright, or other proprietary right, or which may mislead other players to believe you to be an employee of NC Interactive, or which NC Interactive deems at its sole discretion to be vulgar or otherwise offensive. NC Interactive reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (1) delete or alter any Character Name or ® terminate any license granted herein, for any reason whatsoever, including, without limitation, any suspected or actual infringement of any trademark or trade name right, copyright, or other proprietary right.

(f) Super Group Names, Super Group Member Titles, Battle Cry, and Character Description. While accessing the Service, it is possible to name your Super Group, give titles to members of your Super Group, create a Battle Cry, and write a Character Description. You may not create a Battle Cry, Character Description, give a name to a Super Group, or give a title to a Super Group member that is the name/description/title of another person, or a name/description/title which violates any third party's trademark right, copyright, or other proprietary right, or which may mislead other players to believe you to be an employee of NC Interactive or its affiliates, or which NC Interactive deems at its sole discretion to be vulgar or otherwise offensive. NC Interactive reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (1) delete or alter any name/description/title given to a Super Group, Super Group Member, Battle Cry, or Character Description or ® terminate any license granted herein, for any reason whatsoever, including, without limitation, any suspected or actual infringement of any trademark or trade name right, copyright, or other proprietary right.

(d) Member Conduct. You agree not to use the Service to:

   1. take any action or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any content that infringes or violates any third party rights;
   2. impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a Cryptic Studios or NC Interactive employee, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;

14. TERMINATION

(a) NC Interactive reserves the right to suspend or terminate this Agreement (including your Software license and your Account) immediately and without notice if you breach this Agreement or willfully infringe any third party intellectual property rights, or if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us, or upon game play, chat or any player activity whatsoever which is, in our sole discretion, inappropriate and/or in violation of the spirit of the Game(s) as described in the Rules of Conduct.

Should NC Interactive decide to suspend or terminate this Agreement with a User under any circumstances, the User will lose access to your Account for the balance of any prepaid period without any refund.

So they can, at their discretion, bust you for the name Lindsay Lohan (the name of a person).  They can also bust you for -anything- that infringes on any trademark or copyright, because you aren't supposed to take -any- action that does that.

Your loophole is that you could legally change your name to Lindsay Lohan; then you'd be allowed to use it.

[captainspud]

Okay, but on the other hand, I could make a character named Bob McGee, and technically they can bust me for that, because there's probably someone, SOMEWHERE with that name.

[BlueBard]

Okay, but on the other hand, I could make a character named Bob McGee, and technically they can bust me for that, because there's probably someone, SOMEWHERE with that name.

Reading carefully, they can bust a player for any reason they can contrive.  It's totally their option.  But I think they'd follow the spirit of intent which I read as, you can't use somebody else's name.

Probably the reason for that is avoiding the situation where a player might do something disreputable using someone else's name.

I bet your doofus has never read the EULA, much less understood it.  So he's probably not going to report it to NCSoft, and he's obviously not going to get anywhere trying to report it to Lindsay Lohan.  If he does report you, it's entirely up to NCSoft what they decide to do about it.

[Zapow]

I wouldn't worry about it.

It's not like Linsey Lohan is going to sue NCSoft over you using her name.

[Verfall]

Wouldn't it fall under Parody laws?

[Zapow]

Parody Laws only apply to creative works.

[captainspud]

Costume creation isn't a creative work?

[Camma]

yea wait for me to tell the company of lohan

just watch me cuz I work there

It's not like Linsey Lohan is going to sue NCSoft over you using her name

Careful giving them ideas, clearly her spies are everywhere.  And i can see it now...

[DREAMBUBBLE]...news of the impending lawsuit has sent lohan co. stock (NRXIC on the NASDAQ) sky rocketing...[/DREAMBUBBLE]

[Zapow]

Costume creation isn't a creative work?

Did you create the pieces of artwork that makes up your costume? No.

You don't even own your characters.

Essentially they are rented from NCSoft.

[captainspud]

Did you create the pieces of artwork that makes up your costume? No.

That's a pretty weak argument.

Collage is art.
Complex lego structures are art.
Flower arranging is art.
Scrapbooking is art.
Guys raiding junk yards and welding crap together is art.

You do not have to be the originator of your components to be making art. Arrangement is far more important than creation-- hell, even a painter is taking a "found item" (paint) and arranging it creatively.

You don't even own your characters.

Essentially they are rented from NCSoft.

There was a post from CuppaJo about a year ago that explained that part of the EULA-- essentially, they own the in-game CHARACTER you create (the pile of code-- which gives them the right to delete/rename/nerf/etc as they please), but the CONCEPT is partially yours. IE, you can use it commercially if you re-create it externally, but they also co-own it, so they can too. And she then clarified that to mean that they reserve the right to post screenies of people's toons and publish them in the comic book without being sued, they have no intention of selling the rights to a Kid Dynamo And Pals saturday morning cartoon if you ever become successful with that character.

I can't find the actual post, but that was the gist of it.

[MJB]

LOL Spud. You have the worst luck. Not inviting a member of the NCSoft team and getting reported for using "Linsey Lohan". LMAO!

Some people are so stupid.

-MJB

[DireWolf]

"God must love idiots, he sure made lots of 'em...."

[Zapow]

That's a pretty weak argument.

Maybe on an internet message board. Not in a court of law.

[Bujin]

Wouldn't it fall under Parody laws?

Wouldn't Lindsey herself fall under the category of Parody at this point?   :blink:

[Figure Fan]

Wouldn't it fall under Parody laws?

Wouldn't Lindsey herself fall under the category of Parody at this point?   :blink:

L O L