: Re: What's "fair use" for borrowing someone else's invented term? Let's say I'm writing a sci-fi novel. I want to use a word which another writer has coined, which has become well-recognized outside

@Angie602

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Kindall tackled the legal aspect. As for reception/perception considerations, here's the rule of thumb I'd use:

If you're using the same word in the same way for the same thing, and your story is about that thing (or concept, or whatever) - you're crossing the line. That's like saying "I'm writing a story about the same Smeerps Albert J. Jones wrote about," and that feels like you're treading on his toes.

If you're using it in a different way (e.g. verb --> race name) then your referencing it, which is fine. I'd be concerned about feeling in-jokey or outright inbred if the phrase is really tough to recognize for somebody who isn't a fan, but it wouldn't feel like infringement.

If you're using it in the same way for the same thing, but your story is about something else - then that's usually fine. You're saying "I've accepted your concept as a building block for my story," and that's acceptable in SF.

Or, to put it briefly: in general, the more your use of the phrase is dependent on the original, the more problematic it is.

A slight addendum is that if a word originating from (or featured in) a particular work has entered common usage, at least in the genre (e.g. "grok," "robotics," "hyperspace," "replicator"), then you can pretty much do as you like with it - that's a case where the phrase has become recognized as completely independent on the original. But I think part of what you're asking is how a word moves from "unique" to "common usage," since somebody needs to be the first to swipe it :)

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