# Would I not be able to use "windows" out of copyright for my story?



## ironpony (Jan 3, 2017)

Basically in my story, the villain finds out that his computer has been hacked.  I was doing research and I found out that one way you can find out if there is a keylogger on your system is to what they say to do in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erZaADwckgE

So can I use the term "winlogon", or is that term copyrighted, and I should just make up a name for it on the computer, if that makes sense?


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## JustRob (Jan 3, 2017)

If you use a specific term like "winlogon" then it will date your story regardless of copyright issues. Any weaknesses in operating systems are eliminated by their designers changing them, so if you know about a hack then it's probably already outdated. It would be better to use a generic term like "rootkit", which is any device incorporated into a system to hack it at the root level. The term "root" was the original master user with authority to do everything in Unix and it also exists in Linux, but Windows is different. Nevertheless the generic term "rootkit" is also used to describe the equivalent hack in Windows. In the TV series _Person of Interest _there is a girl known as "Root". She has gained access to the supercomputer at the centre of the story at its root level, hence her name. 

In my time I have written routines to modify the Winlogon procedure, not to hack a system but to provide additional security on computers in rooms where the public were interviewed and might be left alone with them. Those routines wouldn't work nowadays because the systems have been changed to prevent them doing so. Systems are hackable because the hackers know exactly how they work if they are standard packages. Add something alien like my routines and the hackers are put at a disadvantage provided that the change isn't used widely enough to become known to them. 

So, read up about rootkits and use that term but without giving any precise details and you'll not have any problems.

P.S.
There used to be a module within the Winlogon process named GINA, but I think she got sacked for being a security risk, so it might be better to stick with Root. Of course, as Gina isn't an issue any more it's possible that nobody would object to you incorporating her into your story. It's just a girl's name after all, isn't it?

P.P.S.
That ambiguity between a girl's name and something else was used in the film _Deep Impact _where an investigator thought they had discovered that an official was having an affair with a woman named "Ellie" but he was actually dealing with an imminent global disaster known as "E.L.E.".


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## Ell337 (Jan 3, 2017)

to address the copyright issue - brand names are not copyrighted from inclusion in a book, so it's OK to have a character drink a Coke, or drive a Lamborghini.


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## Terry D (Jan 3, 2017)

Names, words, brands, etc. cannot be copyrighted (they can be registered as trademarks, however). But, as Ell337 wrote, there is usually no problem using them in a work of fiction as long as you do not misrepresent the product in your story. For instance, I can have my characters drink all the Coke they want. but I'd be hearing from a lawyer if I wrote that a number of people we killed by drinking tainted Coke. To use that scenario in my plot, I'd be better off creating a fictitious brand name.


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## JustRob (Jan 3, 2017)

So is it okay for me to mention that we haven't been able to buy our usual diet Pepsi lately, so have had to drink diet Coke until we can get the real thing? I mean, nobody can claim that Coke is Pepsi, nothing more than that. It's a matter of taste after all.

This isn't fiction by the way. We've now resorted to buying the Pepsi in cans because we can't always get it in bottles.


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## ironpony (Jan 22, 2017)

Okay thanks.  I am surprised that using that term would be outdated, since that word is on my computer, and my computer is only four years old.


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## Ptolemy (Jan 24, 2017)

ironpony said:


> Okay thanks.  I am surprised that using that term would be outdated, since that word is on my computer, and my computer is only four years old.



Even so it dates your story to at least 4 years ago, regardless of how "new" it might be


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## ironpony (Jan 26, 2017)

Okay thanks.  Well the villain could also have a four year old computer, no?  I mean not every character has to own the newest technology for a story to feel dated, do they?  I mean isn't that like saying a story is dated cause a character drove a car that was few years old, or cause his jeans are a few years old?


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## JustRob (Jan 26, 2017)

He seems a disappointing villain if he doesn't even keep his software up to date. How successful a villain is he meant to be? Surely villains assume that the world is full of villains and that one has to strive to be at the top of one's game.


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## ironpony (Jan 26, 2017)

But why does he need his software up to date?  He can still commit crimes no problem, and still have a four year old computer that can get the job done.  But if him having a brand new computer is a must, then I guess I could write it in.  But his crimes aren't even computer related, so what's the point?  All the MC wanted to do is check his email, and it's not like the villain's crimes are cybercrimes primarily.

But if it's a must, I can write it that way.  So if the villain wanted to spot that he was hacked on a modern computer, how would one be able to tell, as oppose to a computer from four years ago?


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