: Using Names for Weaponry used in Actual Games I've recently looked at the chat that talks about the question of referencing actual military weapons in your writing. Since I'm writing a science-fiction

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I am not a lawyer, but No, you shouldn't use them.

A unique invented name is copyrighted, and no in-story justification matters. The owners of the copyright have all the rights to make a profit using that name; if you sell your story they may be entitled to all the profits and damages and court costs on top of that.

You can't open a burger joint and call it McDonald's and say you just got lazy and this seemed like a very popular name for a burger joint.

That is what you are doing in your story, as an author, being lazy and stealing somebody else's work of imagination and trying to make money with it. Whatever your characters say won't matter in the least, just like it doesn't matter if your characters break the law and kill and murder people. They aren't real. They can steal. You cannot.

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As a general rule on copyright infringement: If you have to ask, the answer is "No".

Now, that doesn't mean you cant be clever about it. Zenit does look like a real word "Zenith" which isn't just a TV brand but also means "Pinnical or Height of achievement". Molot looks like Morlock (sp) which is a god in some pantheon I can't remember.

Or you can get clever with the naming of the weapons system. Zenit could easily be leeted to "Zen-1+" or "Z-En-1+" and explained by backronym as using the word Zen, which is not copyrighted or Z-engine for the machine that drives the gun. Molot could be an "Mo-10+" or "M-010+" and similarly explain the elements of the code (the later could be binary code). The repeated plus sign could explain that they come from the same company and this is used as a superior model. If you take this route, don't acknowledge it in the story. It's triva for astute fans of the game and those who want to learn more about your creative process.

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IANAL

Yes you can but you shouldn't.

In-Story Reason

No weapon designer will name a weapon after someone else. Weapons are normally named after the designer/founder/company and then a model designation. So Kalashnikov, Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Heckler & Koch. Even the MAC-10 is actually Military Armament Corporation Model 10).

Weapon systems are occasionally named for some famous military figure e.g. M1 Abrams. But it was designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems). The designation I think is from the Army

Aircraft are named e.g. Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II or F-35 Lightning II which is actually the Lockheed Martin X-35.

So a Mecha or robot based on this reality would never just be a Zenit or Molot unless those words mean something in the language of the combatants like Warthog or Eagle i.e. a nickname.

Out-of-Story Reason

Unless you are pitching to write a novelisation of Robot Wars (or other in-universe tie-in) you are limiting your readers. Non-fans of the game won't know what Zenit or Molot are, but it limits your world for not enough upside.

A bullet-proof, flying, fast, humanoid hero does not have to be called Superman unless I am writing about Superman. So are you writing about Zenit & Molot? Or do you just like some feature(s) of the robots? If you are writing about them, pitch a novelisation to the rights owners.

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