History Main / WritingAroundTrademarks

** Due to [[UsefulNotes/EntertainmentSoftwareRatingBoard ESRB]] rules prohibiting M-rated and non-M-rated games from being promoted alongside one another, which were put on effect since the start of 2020, promotional materials for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' were unable to directly name any M-rated games. This meant that the introductions of Mii costumes like [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Altair]] and [[Franchise/{{Doom}} Doom Slayer]] didn't show the usual ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' X {franchise} graphic but instead used the characters' names stylized to look like the series' logos. Thus, ''Ultimate'' [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] the DemographicDissonantCrossover trope in this instance, though the game also plays that crossover trope straight with playable characters from M-rated games. Since the ESRB applies only to North America, versions of the trailers in other parts of the world are unaffected by this.

* When Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} left WWE for Wrestling/AEW in 2023, he couldn't take his longtime ring name with him as WWE still holds that trademark, so he is billed under his real name of Adam Copeland. However, the trademark of his longtime nickname "The Rated R Superstar" was found to have lapsed, so he has been able to continue using that. Throw in the fact that he's long used the RealSongThemeTune "Metalingus" by Alter Bridge, and the only real difference in his presentation in AEW from his WWE days is the lack of the Edge name.

* Wrestling/{{WWE}} used to be the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), but it changed its name after a suit by the World Wildlife Fund (also WWF). They used to have an agreement, but it went sour after the wrestling promotion changed its logo. All previous mentions of "WWF" were bleeped out from old clips. Also, the "scratch" version of the WWF logo was blurred out of clips, since it was specifically named in the lawsuit, but the original block-style logo was allowed to remain. Old mentions of the "World Wrestling Federation" were allowed to stand as well; it was only when it was referred to as the "WWF" that it was bleeped.[[note]]There's less 'confusion' over Full Name versus Initialism...[[/note]] This is no longer the case; since 2012, as part of a new agreement, WWE can now show clips from the Wrestling/AttitudeEra uncensored and unedited, but can no longer use any version of "WWF" or the old logos in future products. So although they don't have to blur and bleep old footage, all new material must talk about the company as though its name was always WWE, even when talking about historical events that happened before the name change. Even when the actual footage being discussed outright says WWF. The company even introduced a new version of the 80s/early 90s block logo that leaves off the F for retro themed products.

* When Wrestling/Edge left WWE for Wrestling/AEW in 2023, he couldn't take his longtime ring name with him as WWE still holds that trademark, so he is billed under his real name of Adam Copeland. However, the trademark of his longtime nickname "The Rated R Superstar" was found to have lapsed, so he has been able to continue using that. Throw in the fact that he's long used the RealSongThemeTune "Metalingus" by Alter Bridge, and the only real difference in his presentation in AEW from his WWE days is the lack of the Edge name.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally]] going to be named [=SpongeBoy=], but the show creators discovered that [=SpongeBoy=] was a trademarked pencil brand. Thus, the Y became a B.

* When Greg Stafford brought a new game system (no longer ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'') to Glorantha (with the help of Robin Laws), he wanted to name it ''[=HeroQuest=]'' based on the mighty mythical quests people went on to gain power. Unfortunately, the ''[=HeroQuest=]'' board game was still under trademark, and so ''Hero Wars'' came out instead. (Eventually, the trademarked lapsed and now there is a ''[=HeroQuest=]'' RPG, although it is generic and not limited to Glorantha.)
* In one Open Gaming License product, "mind flayers" and "illithids" were referred to in the supplement as brain-eating tentacle-faced things. The ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' gamebook series pulled a similar trick with its own versions of the mind flayers. To get around the TSR trademark, Ian Livingstone called his equivalents "Brain Slayers."

* Wrestling/{{WWE}} used to be the WWF, but it changed its name after a suit by the World Wildlife Fund (they used to have an agreement, but it went sour); all previous mentions of "WWF" were bleeped out from old clips. Also, the "scratch" version of the WWF logo was blurred out of clips, since it was specifically named in the lawsuit, but the original logo was allowed to remain. Old mentions of the "World Wrestling Federation" were allowed to stand as well; it's only when it's referred to as the "WWF" that it was bleeped.[[note]]There's less 'confusion' over Full Name versus Initialism...[[/note]] This is no longer the case; since 2012, the WWE can now show clips from the Wrestling/AttitudeEra uncensored and unedited.

* Hot Water Music briefly had to change their name to The Hot Water Music Band for their album ''Forever And Counting'', because a band called Hot Water released their debut album titled ''Hot Water Music'' that same year - though Hot Water formed well after Hot Water Music did, Hot Water's label, Creator/ElektraRecords, apparently held copyright to the name/title. The ''Forever And Counting'' cover art pointedly put much more emphasis on the "Hot Water Music" part of the name than those two added words, most likely because the name change would confuse fans otherwise. Hot Water broke up later that same year, so Hot Water Music was free to use their original name again. A later reissue of ''Forever and Counting'' slightly altered the cover text to Hot Water Music as originally intended.

* ''Anime/LupinIII'' was renamed to Edgar de la Cambriole when it aired in France because of complaints from the estate of Creator/MauriceLeblanc, the author of the original ''Literature/ArseneLupin'' stories. The trademark problems are also notoriously the reason for why the show never came to the US for so long. The first few ''Lupin'' films that did leak out of Japan substituted names like "[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Rupan]]" and "Wolf" to get around it.

* The sport commonly known as [[Franchise/HarryPotter Muggle Quidditch]] has officially been renamed "Quadball", since Quidditch is already a registered trademark of Warner Bros., Scholastic, and Creator/JKRowling, not to mention it was done in an effort by overly sensitive quadball associations (and the ''Harry Potter'' community in general) to distance themselves from Rowling's perfectly reasonable but apparently 'controversial' sociopolitical views. Apparently the only views we can have are the ones that please the woke agenda.

* The sport commonly known as [[Franchise/HarryPotter Muggle Quidditch]] has officially been renamed "Quadball", since Quidditch is already a registered trademark of Warner Bros., Scholastic, and Creator/JKRowling, not to mention it was done in an effort by quadball associations (and the ''Harry Potter'' community in general) to distance themselves from Rowling's controversial sociopolitical views.

** ''VideoGame/AvengersAcademy''[='=]s writers were able to sneak in a few references, such as Viv Vision saying the last spot on [[ComicBook/{{Champions 2016}} her hypothetical team]] belongs to "[[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops a guy who shoots lasers from his face]]," [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]] talking about [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom a genius who runs his own country and has an army of robots]], or [[Characters/SHIELDDirectors Nick Fury]] discussing [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto an unnamed prisoner who needs to be kept in a cell made out of non-metal materials]].

* The sport commonly known as [[Franchise/HarryPotter Muggle Quidditch]] has officially been renamed "Quadball", since Quidditch is already a registered trademark of Warner Bros., Scholastic, and Creator/JKRowling, not to mention it was done in an effort by quadball associations (and the ''Harry Potter'' community in general) to distance themselves from their overly sensitive views of Rowling's 'less-than-pleasant' sociopolitical views.

* Franchise/{{Transformers}} has a MirrorUniverse called ''ComicBook/TransformersShatteredGlass''. One of the characters is named Sephie Beller, a technophile, Decepticon fangirl, and aspiring {{Transhuman}}. Sephie is short for Josephina, which is more commonly abbreviated as Josie. In the original G1 continuity, Josie Beller was paralyzed in an accident, and after a WeCanRebuildHim moment, re-emerged as the Transformer-hating Circuit Breaker. However, the rights to Transformers comics has changed hands over the years, and IDW cannot use either the name Josie Beller or Circuit Breaker, because Creator/MarvelComics still has the rights to them (they made sure to have her appear first in ''ComicBook/SecretWarsII'' just for that reason).

* For a few years in the mid-2000s, DC Comics did not have the rights to the name ComicBook/{{Superboy}}, as they were in legal contention at the time. This was a major problem, since Superboy was an active and popular DC character. There was also a character they had just brought back named [[Characters/SupermanSuperboyPrime Superboy-Prime]]. They solved the first problem by going ahead and killing the heroic Superboy in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. Superboy-Prime was renamed "[=SuperMAN-Prime=]" -- which made sense for the character since he didn't like being treated as a boy -- in ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' story ''ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar'' and aged up during the finale and throughout ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis''. When the legal hurdles were solved, Superboy and Superboy-Prime were restored to normal during the ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' tie-in "[[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes The Legion of Three Worlds]]".

** In a similar example, the original [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel comics]] explained the Dinobots’ unusual alt modes were scanned in the Savage Land, a Marvel location inhabited by real dinosaurs. For the [[ComicBook/Transformers84 Secrets and Lies miniseries]] published by IDW, narrator Counterpunch says that there’s some apocrypha about real dinosaurs being around [[AnachronismStew 60 million years after their extinction]] and depicts the Dinobots’ sources as fossils, [[RetCanon similar to the IDW continuity]]. WordOfGod confirms that they couldn’t use “the Original Location”, so they went with the change.

* It is very common for ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' pastiches that could run afoul of the ''very complicated'' copyright/public domain situation to engage in this by never referring to Sherlock Holmes and John Watson by name. They’ll be exactly like Holmes and Watson in every way, but will only be called "the detective and his companion" or something like that. Creator/NeilGaiman famously exploited this trend to set up TheReveal in his own pastiche, ''Literature/AStudyInEmerald''; the main characters never being named seems like an attempt to avoid legal trouble, but it’s really because [[spoiler:they ''aren’t'' Holmes and Watson. They’re ''[[BigBad Professor Moriarty]] and [[TheDragon Sebastian Moran]]'', and the whole story has been a PerspectiveFlip of sorts]].

* In 1985 DC decided that Superman should be the only survivor of Krypton and killed Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}}. In 1988 John Byrne deemed it unwise to let the trademark expire and came up with a non-Kryptonian Supergirl. Eighteen years and ''four'' non-Kryptonian Supergirls later DC gave up, revoked the "Last Child of Krypton" policy and reintroduced Supergirl as Kara Zor-El, Superman's Kryptonian cousin.

* When Fox adapted Creator/AlanMoore and Kevin O'Neill's ComicBook/TheLeagueofExtraordinaryGentlemen into the questionably-received film [[Film/TheLeagueofExtraordinaryGentlemen LXG]], several changes were made to avoid having to risk the wrath of potential copyright infringement, including ditching Literature/FuManchu entirely. The filmmakers were also compelled by the estate of Creator/HGWells to not use '''THE''' [[Literature/TheInvisibleMan Invisible Man]] (despite him only gaining a first name in the comic; before 1999 he was NFN Griffin) and instead feature "an" Invisible man, Rodney Skinner, who stole Griffin's formula...

* Creator/CyberConnect2 was practically forced to do this for their self-published ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'', given its nature as a {{Prequel}}. While they were able to use terms and locations from ''{{VideoGame/Solatorobo}}'', they could not refer to [[spoiler:Baion, Red, or]] any other pre-established ''Little Tail Bronx'' characters by name thanks to them being owned by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment. [[spoiler:It shows in the final episode for the "Comedies of Steel" spin-off series, as Baion is referred as "The Hooded Man" the entire time, with only his eyes remaining obscured.]]

* The reason why Creator/MarvelComics made sure to publish a comic with a character named ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} every few years was so that the trademark didn't lapse and Creator/DCComics couldn't swoop in and use it with ''[[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} their]]'' [[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] (purchased from Creator/FawcettComics) -- the ''original'' Captain Marvel. DC renamed the character Shazam for good in 2011 "[[IAmNotShazam since that's what a lot of people thought he was called anyway]]". This has applied to several other Marvel characters: [[Characters/SpiderWomanTitleCharacter Spider-Woman]], Characters/{{Warlock|1967}} and Penance for example.
* Creator/JohnByrne intended to have a character named Dreadface appear in the ''ComicBook/NextMen'' comic as an exaggeration of the type of names Marvel gave characters. A few months before the character was due to make his first appearance, an issue of ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' came out [[RedundantParody featuring a character called Dreadface]]. The ''Next Men'' character was hurriedly renamed.

** The events of ''Comicbook/MarvelVersusDC'' have been acknowledged in subsequent comics, such as when Access, a character created for the crossover and who is co-owned by both companies ([[ExiledFromContinuity explaining why he rarely shows up anymore]]), later appeared in an issue of ''ComicBook/GreenLantern''. However, the events of the crossover could only be vaguely alluded to in subsequent stories, such as when Comicbook/BlueBeetle debuted synthetic webbing he claimed to have gotten from "[[ComicBook/SpiderMan this guy who just drifted through from some alternate universe recently]]." Also, in the aforementioned ''Green Lantern'' issue, Access stopped just short of explicitly mentioning the Marvel Universe.

** Likewise, Creator/KurtBusiek's "Syndicate Rules" story arc in ''[[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]'' is an explicit sequel to ''Comicbook/JLAAvengers'', but with the caveat that he couldn't actually refer to Comicbook/TheAvengers by name. It's mentioned in the storyline that the Justice League recently teamed up with a group of heroes from another universe to defeat Krona, but the heroes in question are never named or shown. The events of the crossover are again referenced in ''Comicbook/{{Trinity 2008}}'', but [[ComicBook/GreenLantern John Stewart]] merely refers to the Avengers as "others" who helped the Justice League stop Krona. On the Marvel side of things, the crossover is acknowledged in ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'', which again stops short of actually naming the DC heroes and villains. Easter eggs include mention of a certain "league of justice-seeking super heroes" from another reality and [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics Monica Rambeau]]'s entry referencing a battle against an [[ComicBook/GreenLantern "extradimensional emerald gladiator" whose powers come from will]].
** And in the backmatter of ''Comicbook/DarkCrisis: Big Bang'', Barry Allen's list of new multiversal worlds he's discovered includes an Earth where he ''thinks'' all the heroes have been "[[Comicbook/AmalgamUniverse amalgamated]]", although he isn't sure about the details. It does not appear on panel.
* One of the characters in ''ComicBook/RisingStars'' originally had the superhero name "Flagg" until somebody noticed the previous use of that name in Creator/HowardChaykin's ''Comicbook/AmericanFlagg''. Creator/JMichaelStraczynski settled the matter amicably with Chaykin, and [[LampshadeHanging wrote the name change into the comic]], having the character renamed "Patriot" by his corporate sponsors because [[ShoutOut "some guy named Chaykin had the rights to 'Flagg'"]].
* The Creator/MarvelComics hero Characters/ShangChi was created as the son of literary villain Literature/FuManchu back when Marvel had licensed the rights to the character. This led to an awkward situation where Marvel has 100 percent ownership of Shang-Chi, but is legally barred from ever referring to his father by his most famous name. For instance, there is a humorous moment in ''Comicbook/BlackPanther'' where [=T'Challa=] tries to refer to him as "The Infamous Fu Manchu," only to be interrupted as soon as he reached the "F" in his name. Writers have since gotten around this by referring to him by various pseudonyms, and Creator/EdBrubaker eventually went so far as to have him disfigured beyond recognition in an issue of ''Comicbook/SecretAvengers''. Brubaker made his real name "Zheng Zu," with previous names, including "Fu Manchu," being aliases.
* Literature/FuManchu also (doesn't) appear(s) in Creator/AlanMoore and Kevin O'Neill's Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen, alongside dozens of named and unnamed cameos and characters from centuries of literature and popular culture.

* The ''[[Comicbook/JusticeLeagueInternational Justice League Europe]]'' character Crimson Fox was originally called "La Renard Rouge" ("The Red Fox"). However, the creators of a British indie comic called ''Redfox'' objected, and asked Creator/NeilGaiman of all people to convince the ''Justice League'' editors to change the new heroine's name. It worked, and the character has been known as Crimson Fox ever since, despite [[NonIndicativeName not having any crimson on her costume]].

* An interesting example is the comic book ''Steed & Mrs Peel'', based on the TV series ''Series/TheAvengers1960s''. While the TV series creators came up with the title ''first'', they [[Comicbook/TheAvengers can't use it for a comic]].
* Similarly, ''Secret Origins'' #32 tells the Comicbook/PostCrisis origin of the ComicBook/{{Justice League|Of America}}. When ComicBook/TheFlash suggests "The Avengers" as a possible name for the group, he gets this response:

* ''ComicBook/ProjectSuperpowers'' makes ample use of Golden Age superheroes who have long since lapsed into the public domain. However, though the characters themselves are public domain, in several cases their ''names'' are owned by DC or Marvel. This necessitates referring to Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} as "'Devil", [[Comicbook/AntMan Yellowjacket]] as "Jack", the Comicbook/BlueBeetle as "Big Blue", and so forth.
* Marvel used to publish a ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' comic book series (''Comicbook/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1977''), but eventually lost the rights. They were able to use the character a few more times by having him mutated off-screen and then never actually calling him "Godzilla".
* When Marvel brought UsefulNotes/{{the Golden Age|OfComicBooks}} hero Amazing-Man into their continuity, they were forced to change his moniker to the Prince of Orphans thanks to DC now having a [[Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]] character with the name Amazing-Man ([[LegacyCharacter several of them, in fact]]). They can still use his civilian name of Johan Aman, though.
* The ''ComicBook/MarvelNOW'' ''[[Comicbook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman Avengers]]'' relaunch introduced a new hero named Smasher, who has the civilian identity of Izzy Dare. It was initially heavily implied that she was the granddaughter of British comic book hero ComicStrip/DanDare, but subsequent reprints and collections of her debut issue [[OrwellianRetcon retroactively declared Izzy's last name to be "Kane"]] instead, revealing that her granddad was actually the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] hero Captain Terror.

* PlayedForLaughs in the ''Comicbook/WarOfTheRealms: Comicbook/JourneyIntoMystery'' mini-series. A TV show based on ComicBook/WonderMan's life is pitched, with ComicBook/TheVision renamed "The Apparition" for licensing reasons.

* ''Film/Deadpool2016'' features an appearance from Bob, Agent of Hydra, who as his name implies, works for Comicbook/{{Hydra}} in the comics. However, since Hydra is part of the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' (having appeared in the various ''Captain America'' and ''Avengers'' movies), and this was about two years before Disney (owner of Marvel) bought out Fox's film rights (Fox had the rights to Deadpool), the movie omitted any reference to Bob being a Hydra agent (he's very clearly shown to be an agent of ''something''; what it is is never referred to).

** One of Comicbook/DoctorStrange's most famous enemies, even present in the ''Videogame/MarvelVsCapcom'' games, is the EldritchAbomination Shuma-Gorath. But given the name came from ''Literature/{{Kull}}'', Marvel could have some problems with those who own filming rights to Creator/RobertEHoward's creations, so a tentacled monster in ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' that is clearly evoking Shuma-Gorath received the name of a one-shot octopus villain who faced [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], Gargantos.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Literature/MyBrotherIsASuperhero.'' When Zack gets superpowers, it also causes three glowing stars to appear on his chest. Therefore, he decides to call himself Starman!...until Luke informs him that [[Comicbook/StarmanDCComics DC Comics has that name copyrighted]]. Okay, so he'll call himself Star Boy! [[Comicbook/LegionOfSuperheroes Wait, they own that one, too]]? Finally he settles on "Star Guy."

* In ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (and the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse in general, prior to Phase 4) characters that would be called mutants in the comics are called "gifted" instead or are replaced by [[Comicbook/TheInhumans Inhumans]]. This is because Marvel lost the ability to use the word "mutant" when they sold the rights to the ''ComicBook/XMen'' franchise to [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios 20th Century Fox]]. This also meant that the few mutant characters Marvel did retain the rights to, like Molly from ''Series/Runaways2017'', had to undergo {{Adaptation Species Change}}s for their TV incarnations.

* The final scene of ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' Season 3 was a nod to the storyline from the comics where a Japanese scientist named Professor Oyama gave [[Characters/DaredevilCentralRoguesGallery Bullseye]] an adamantium-reinforced skeleton. However, due to adamantium being mostly associated with the ''Comicbook/XMen'' franchise (whose [[Film/XMenFilmSeries film rights]] belonged to [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios 20th Century Fox]] until Disney bought the company in 2019), the show changed the name of the metal Oyama used to "cogmium."

* The trademark for "Wrestling/HulkHogan" is jointly owned by Creator/MarvelComics, creators of ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'' because when Hogan began working for the WWF, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon (then most visible as an announcer) got carried away and began referring to him as "The incredible Hulk Hogan". Needless to say, Marvel gave Vince a call...

** A similar incident occurred with WCW, who introduced a character called "[[Franchise/SpiderMan Arachniman]]", who dressed in a yellow-and-purple colored costume[[note]]evoking ''Spider-Man'' villain The Shocker[[/note]]. Needless to say, Marvel was not amused.

* Brazilian toy maker Tec Toy had the license for the Comicbook/MonicasGang 1988 hit animated movie ''A Estrelinha Mágica''[[note]]The Magic Little Star[[/note]], but Estrela had the trademark for toys with the word "star". They worked around it by [[http://blogtectoy.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/estrelinha8.jpg removing the word from the box.]]

** If a character has a name that is distinct and easy to trademark like "Franchise/SpiderMan," "Comicbook/CaptainAmerica," "[[Characters/IncredibleHulkBruceBanner The Incredible Hulk]]," "[[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]]," "[[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]]," "[[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]]," "Characters/{{Deadpool|WadeWilson}}," "[[Comicbook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]]," "Characters/LukeCage" or "Characters/ShangChi," they are usually fine. However, characters with names taken from preexisting terms or real world things are harder to trademark, usually leading to their names being presented as something like "[[Characters/CaptainAmericaHeroes Marvel's Falcon]]," "[[Characters/MarvelComicsBeast Marvel's Beast]]," "[[Characters/MarvelComicsValkyrior Marvel's Valkyrie]]," "[[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Marvel's Rogue]]," "[[Characters/DominoMarvelComics Marvel's Domino]]," "[[Characters/IronManHeroes Marvel's War Machine]]," "[[Characters/TheWasp Marvel's Wasp]]," "[[Characters/XMen90sMembers Marvel's Jubilee]]," "[[Characters/BlackCatMarvelComics Marvel's Black Cat]]" or "[[Characters/MarvelComicsSunspot Marvel's Sunspot]]" on the packaging for legal reasons.
** Due to the popularity of the ''Videogame/MarvelVsCapcom'' video games, several figures and accessories inspired by the Capcom versions of Marvel's characters have been produced. However, for legal reasons, this is rarely made explicit on the packaging, such as when Hasbro produced an ''MVC'' [[Characters/IronManHeroes War Machine]] figure but marketed it as a comic version despite the fact that the character only ever wore that specific suit of armor in Capcom's games[[note]]In the games, War Machine is a PaletteSwap of Iron Man's Modular Armor due to the fact that in the installment he debuted in, Iron Man was unavailable because of licensing reasons[[/note]]. Additionally, when they produced a 90s Comicbook/IronMan figure that included an accessory that was obviously the proton cannon from games, it was referred as a "plasma cannon" on the packaging.

* When [[Creator/ToddMcFarlane McFarlane Toys]] did a DC Multiverse wave based on the ''Comicbook/CrimeSyndicate2021'' mini-series, Ultraman was referred to as "Superman of Earth-3" on the box, seemingly due to existence of the ''Franchise/UltraSeries''.

* For a while, Marvel Comics licensed games were affected by an executive order that prevented the use, or even any ''mention'', of characters whose film rights belonged to [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios 20th Century Fox]] (namely the Comicbook/XMen and Comicbook/FantasticFour franchises) from being used in cartoons or video games.
** ''VideoGame/AvengersAcademy''[='=]s writers were able to sneak in a few references, such as Viv Vision saying the last spot on [[Comicbook/{{Champions 2016}} her hypothetical team]] belongs to "[[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops a guy who shoots lasers from his face]]," [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]] talking about [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom a genius who runs his own country and has an army of robots]], or [[Characters/SHIELDDirectors Nick Fury]] discussing [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto an unnamed prisoner who needs to be kept in a cell made out of non-metal materials]].
** ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'' also snuck a reference to the X-Men member [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]] into one of Comicbook/BlackPanther's pre-fight quotes by having him refer to her as "My queen."

* As mentioned in the "Comics" section, Comicbook/MartianManhunter's snack cookie of choice was originally Oreos (later Choccos), but for his appearances in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' it was changed to ordinary chocolate chip cookies.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperheroSquadShow'' wasn't allowed to use Franchise/SpiderMan because of rights issues with Creator/{{Sony}}, but managed to make two vague references to him in the episode "Election of Evil". The Mayor of Superhero City at one point alludes to a hero who got his powers from being bitten by a radioactive bug and at the end of the episode states "[[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility With great responsibility comes great power....and, uh, vice versa]]."

* As mentioned above in the Comic Books section, DC eventually dropped the use of the name "Captain Marvel," instead officially renaming their version of the character Comicbook/{{Shazam}}. This caused a bit of an awkward situation for ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'', as Cap had appeared in the first two seasons (produced before the name change was officially company policy) under his original name. During his sole appearance in [[WesternAnimation/YoungJusticeRevivalSeries the third season]], he was only referred to by his civilian name, Billy, with the credits calling him Shazam instead of Captain Marvel. Consequently, when Mary Bromfield made her debut in Season 4, she was cut off before she could officially say her codename was "Sergeant Marvel," [[spoiler:and was officially renamed "Black Mary" in the season finale]].

** The events of ''Comicbook/MarvelVersusDC'' have been acknowledged in subsequent comics, such as when Access, a character created for the crossover and who is co-owned by both companies ([[ExiledFromContinuity explaining why he rarely shows up anymore]]), later appeared in an issue of ''ComicBook/GreenLantern''. However, the events of the crossover could only be vaguely alluded to in subsequent stories, such as when Comicbook/BlueBeetle debuted synthetic webbing he claimed to have gotten from "[[Franchise/SpiderMan this guy who just drifted through from some alternate universe recently]]." Also, in the aforementioned ''Green Lantern'' issue, Access stopped just short of explicitly mentioning the Marvel Universe.

* This is the reason why ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' was localized as ''Super Robot Taisen'' in the West; they were worried about conflicts with ''Series/RobotWars'' at the time.[[note]]''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars 30'' was localized with its original title intact, although by that point the Robot Wars series was already cancelled.[[/note]]
* The Black History from ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' is a major plot point throughout the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'' series. However, ''∀'' wasn't included in ''Jigoku-hen'', so the Banpresto writing staff got around this by adding a single hiragana to the name, changing it from "Kuro Rekishi" (黒歴史) to "Kuro'''i''' Rekishi" (黒い歴史), which has exactly the same meaning.

* The sport commonly known as [[Franchise/HarryPotter Muggle Quidditch]] has officially been renamed "Quadball", since Quidditch is already a registered trademark of Warner Bros., Scholastic, and Creator/JKRowling, not to mention it was done in an effort by quadball associations (and the ''Harry Potter'' community in general) to distance themselves from Rowling's their overly sensitive views of her 'less-than-pleasant' sociopolitical views.

* The sport commonly known as [[Franchise/HarryPotter Muggle Quidditch]] has officially been renamed "Quadball", since Quidditch is already a registered trademark of Warner Bros., Scholastic, and Creator/JKRowling, not to mention it was done in an effort by quadball associations (and the ''Harry Potter'' community in general) to distance themselves from Rowling's less-than-pleasant sociopolitical views.

* Hot Water Music briefly had to change their name to The Hot Water Music Band for their album ''Forever And Counting'', because a major label act called Hot Water released their debut album titled ''Hot Water Music'' that same year. The ''Forever And Counting'' cover art pointedly put much more emphasis on the "Hot Water Music" part of the name than those two added words, most likely because the name change would confuse fans otherwise. Hot Water broke up later that same year, so Hot Water Music was free to use their original name again. A later reissue of ''Forever and Counting'' slightly altered the cover text to Hot Water Music as originally intended.