: Re: Is the Concept of "Machine of Death" Copyrighted? I am a fan of the book "Machine of Death"; http://machineofdeath.net/pdf/MachineofDeath_FINAL.pdf PDF Page 452 of the above link details the copyright

@Sherry594

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This is treading on thin ice in this case. Although ideas cannot generally be copyrighted, US law does offer extra protection for a series, and the story you're a fan of is a series of stories under the conceptual umbrella of the Machine of Death.

So yes, it might well be a problem if you come up your own story using the "Machine of Death" label.

You could safely borrow the idea in a general sense—some machine, computer or other method that predicts a person's death with unerring accuracy. If you're determined to write another story in the universe of the original book, you could try asking permission from whoever owns the rights. If they don't plan more books, they might say yes.

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