Placing tributes to other peoples characters in your novel?

[Menion]

I have been wondering, can I use other peoples names? but only as the characters that only get mentioned for a sentence or somthing.

example, Sieben (from david Gemmells novels) could I use that name as someone who becomes arrow-fodder, for instance he just gets mentioned in one sentence.

Or should I just not do that?

 

[J Riff]

Names are fair game and so are titles, long as it isn't too obvious or in bad taste. Historical characters can guest-star all they like.
Even a send-up can be a tribute. Stereotypes are there for us to steal I mean utilise in the honorable craft of writing.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

As J Riff says, names and titles are generally fair game. You can't copyright them. However, if there are licensed products based on the characters in a book -- say Harry Potter action figures -- then the names may be trademarked, and that's a whole different kettle of squid.

Otherwise, so long as the character with the name doesn't resemble the character who had it before, you are free to do as you like.

Particularly in the case of a name like Sieben, which happens to be a real name, and probably appeared in many books before Gemmell first used it. (I mean that it appeared as a name. It's also a number in German, so it's probably turned up in millions and milions of books.)

 

[Menion]

Particularly in the case of a name like Sieben, which happens to be a real name, and probably appeared in many books before Gemmell first used it. (I mean that it appeared as a name. It's also a number in German, so it's probably turned up in millions and milions of books.)

Oh thanks, I personaly had never heard it before.

Thanks for the responces!