Annie said: "It appears to me that US copyright law is very similar if not the same as international (and UK) copyright law. Whether or not the trademark laws are also the same, I have to admit I don't know. I can say, though, that trademark and copyright are two different things and you *can not* copyright a character name (or situation)."
I'm not sure if that is true in the UK. The reason I say that is that I am currently reading Chris Boucher's Dr Who novel Corpse Marker in which the character Carnell from B7 appears. Now I understood that the reason Chris could do this was that he owned the copyright on the character Carnell.
-- cheers Steve Rogerson http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/steve.rogerson
Redemption 03, 21-23 February 2003, Ashford, Kent The 25th Anniversary Blake's 7 Convention The 10th Anniversary Babylon 5 Convention http://www.smof.com/redemption