Will reusing the hero attribute and faction names from another game cause the new game to become a derivative work?
<p>In DotA 1, the heroes are organized into three attributes: Strength, Agility and Intelligence and 2 factions: Sentinel and Scourge. Will reusing all of these names mentioned will cause a new game to became a derivative work, even through these names are apparently generic? (Some games have distinctive attribute/faction names, but this doesn't appear to be the case in DotA)</p>

<h2>Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Stamina:</h2>
<p>Unlikely, given the vast array of <em>prior art</em> and the &quot;Obvious to any practitioner in the field&quot;.</p>
<p>Virtually every RPG out there uses four familiar stats:</p>
<ul>
<li>Constitution/Stamina/Toughness</li>
<li>Strength</li>
<li>Dexterity</li>
<li>Intelligence</li>
</ul>
<p>This is such a deeply held trope, and so axiomatic to RPGs on or off computers, that I doubt any intellectual property is in play.  If it <em>ever</em> was, it has been completely undefended for the last 40 years, so it's much too late to now attempt to claim rights.</p>
<h2>Sentinel and Scourge</h2>
<p>Let me dodge that one and generalize: Can you use   <em>Alliance-Horde?</em><br />
<em>Terran-Protoss-Zerg?</em><br />
<em>Empire-Rebellion?</em><br />
<em>Gryffindor-Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw-Slytherin?</em></p>
<p>See, there's a real spectrum there!  The four names <em>alone</em> are so unique that J.K. Rowling would come after you if you used them <em>anywhere</em>.  But Empire-Rebellion is too generic to assert an IP claim over.</p>
<p>And if you pluck <em>non-paired</em> names from an IP, like Ravenclaw-Granger, that's not a problem either.  A Wild West movie with feuding families the Grangers and Ravenclaws, would be absolutely fine; whereas Ravenclaws and Gryffindors would not be fine!</p>
<p>DOTA 1, however, is a copyright morass. Many games permit fan-created &quot;mods&quot;, ranging from the TM:PE traffic modeling mod in <em>Cities: Skylines</em> to the TSM auction pricing mod in <em>World of Warcraft</em>.  The mod is nothing without the game. The game author doesn't own the mod, The mod author doesn't own the game.  They coexist mostly by consent.</p>
<p>DOTA I was an arena &quot;mod&quot; to <em>Warcraft III</em> and there has been quite considerable fighting over ownership of that IP. Valve now owns it <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120724090129/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/05/11/valve-blizzard-reach-dota-trademark-agreement.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">but agreed to allow non-commercial use of the IP</a>.</p>
<p>Even so, the Sentinel-Scourge pairing is only really important in DOTA I.  The pairing doesn't mean much in Warcraft III, as they are disjoint, like my Granger-Ravenclaw example above.</p>
<p>You would probably be fine, but the risk of trouble is exactly why <strong>original games create original IP</strong> - for instance Sentinels-Scourge <em>was not</em> reused in DOTA II!</p>

united-states derivative-work