Unintentional Plagiarism

[casualimp]

Wish so many budding writers around the world, how can one be sure they are not taking character names or places from published works without their knowledge? I've googled character names and cities I've written about with no luck. Is there a fantasy database online one can check for these things?

[Lord Arioch]

I think they have to be able to PROVE you took it from them on purpose and w/o permission for it to be plagiarism.

But I am no expert on such things.

[N8_The_Gr8]

It's plagiarism only if they can prove that you willfully took their idea and writing and tried to pass it off as your own.

There is a database for all published works(supposedly anyway). My college uses it on all our essays/papers to make sure we aren't being lazy.

[Willowhugger]

Sometimes, you have to catch yourself.

I wanted to insert an homage to Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter by giving the Imperial Guardsman lead in my books a hunchback for a sidekick.

I'm not sure that would be taken kindly.

[WonderandAwe]

When I do a homage to another's work, I usually make it something not related to the main plot or characters.  Just enough to give the readers a "Oh, Neat!"  For example, say your characters stop in at a local bar.  A few of the background people could be based on the hobbits in Lord of the Rings.  Some small for the readers that pay attention.

[Chaos985]

in proven guilty theres a cheap shot/homage at "aliens" that i though was quite excellent.  Sometimes its best just to have a few trusted friends look over something though its the only way to be sure.

[WonderandAwe]

Of course you get a bit of leyway for influencial works such as Lord of the Rings, Asimov, the Bible, Hemingway, etc.  At that point, you are treading in that happy place called Allusions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allusions.