: Re: Can I reference events of a different fictional work in my fictional work? Let's say I'm working on a fantasy series called MyWork, that is set in the present in a small town in the US.

@Gonzalez219

In the case of copyrighted work, the critical question is whether you are referencing the other work or making use of it.

Simply referencing it is usually okay, especially if it has become a well known expression or meme:


punching a side of beef like Rocky
running up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps
"Yo Adrian!"


But if you are actually making use of the other character or location directly in your story, that's almost certainly not okay:


you hire Rocky to help you with something
you visit the pet shop and ask Adrian for advice.


You might get away with it if you are parodying the other work, or if you are paying homage to it, but it had better be very obvious that you are doing so and not simply exploiting the other author's work for your own benefit.

Imagine if it were music instead. You might get away with incorporating a bar or two from someone else's tune as an obvious tribute to them, but simply using their work as if it were your own is outright plagiarism.

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