Writing Tips and Reviews

Same Name

I don't have much of a problem when two stories share the same name, but in a professional setting, it's not common or good in practice. You don't see Tales of Vesperia's title being used by anyone but Namco. Or God Eater, or Fate Stay Night, or Granblue Fantasy. Are you catching on?

The whole point of using a title that's not yours is to gain attention from the fan base. Ask fan fictions. They use the same title as the original with a bit of a spin, or use a different title with the tag of the original.

Creators use names that are unique to them. Personally, I look up the full title I want to use, if it's already being used, I don't use it. I don't want my series to be confused with another. A game series like Undertale is like that. There weren't any games with that name before it's creation. And now that it's popular, it has spinoffs with similar names. Basically, first to use the name is the creator and has bragging rights.

If it's not a unique name or is common, then, one, you can't trademark it, and two, you didn't make it. "Song of Nature" is a pretty common poem title, which, poems are a different thing entirely. Short stories can get away with it, but a big series, like what my friends and I make, it matters more.

Names are used to be easily identified, characters have unique combinations of names sometimes or are completely made up. Nothing is original anymore, but at least try to be unique. If a character is exactly like the original it's based off of with only the change of the name, then just go with the original character and make a fan fiction.

Copyright are where things get crazy, if you use the same name as another, it is fit that you give credit to the original creators and say it's fan made. Because if you claim it as your own, then that's stealing. Whether or not it's made by a big company or a small group of people, it doesn't matter. You can't say things like "I made Uppertale", if you stole the name and concept from someone else. The phrase should be "I made an Uppertale game" such as a spin off. Which is a spin off to a spin off. Interesting.

Just make up a unique name, it's really easier than you think and as long as you check if it hasn't been used before, you'll be fine. Especially if you make money, you can't use another franchise's name. Even if you don't make money, like my friends and I, it's good to give credit where credit is due and try to make your own work instead of building off of someone else's work.