[::NOT RELETED TO CODING] Using a celebrity name is legal or not?

Question

I have noticed that many people Of sololearn have such unique name but I haven't so I am also curious to use one of then

Answer 1

Impersonation is an offense against SoloLearn's Terms of Use. A strong clue of impersonation is when someone uses the name and avatar of a popular person, and moderators can take action in these cases.

My personal advice: be yourself, don't pretend to be someone else. Of course you can hide your identity behind an alias as this is totally normal on the internet, but at least have the decency to make up an alias of your own, instead of "stealing" it from a real person.

Answer 2

Hi,

This should cover both impersonation and copyright infringement with respect to usernames (or "SoloLearn User IDs"):

"You may be required to sign up for an account, and select a password and user name ("SoloLearn User ID"). You promise to provide us with accurate, complete, and updated registration information about yourself.  You may not select as your SoloLearn User ID a name that you do not have the right to use, or another person's name with the intent to impersonate that person."

https://www.sololearn.com/Terms-of-Use/

Even though copyright infringement and impersonation are not the same thing, copyright infringement still isn't "okay" per se... moderators just tend to focus enforcement efforts on code plagiarism. However, if a copyright owner ever sent SoloLearn corporate HQ a letter telling them a user is infringing, and to make the user stop, you can bet that your username and avatar will get reset.

I hope this helps clear things up.

Happy coding!

--Janning⭐
SoloLearn Platinum Moderator

Answer 3

Naqab Posh yes, it's ok to use imaginary characters. Nobody will believe that you are the real Winnie-the-Pooh or Shrek anyway, so this is not impersonation. 😇

Answer 4

Impersonation in the context of SoloLearn's Terms of Use is applied to real world persons, so at least that is how I interpret it.

Using copyrighted or trademarked material as avatar, is a different issue, but I think SoloLearn moderators cannot be expected to enforce the copyrights of every single company and artist on the planet... Although we try to do what we can.
Interesting read in the subject: https://www.aspectlg.com/posts/copyright-in-characters-what-can-i-use

Answer 5

In US law, person can be divided into two categories:

1) "natural persons" which are humans -- because they are born

2) "legal persons" which are legal entities (businesses) -- because they can have similar rights to a natural person... which haven't been mentioned yet in this thread

Wikipedia has conflicting definitions between their two respective articles, otherwise I would link them here.

To break it down:

"You may not select as your SoloLearn User ID a name [...]"

"[...] that you do not have the right to use, [...]" -- copyright and/or trademark infringement (e.g. cartoon characters which you didn't create and didn't receive express permission to use)

"[...] or another person's name with the intent to impersonate that person." -- impersonation (e.g. even non-celebrities are included here since they don't have to be famous, and businesses like SoloLearn or Microsoft or Apple)

So, categorically speaking, while you're not supposed to do either one, only the latter gets enforced (unless DMCA notice).

Answer 6

You can use it as long as you don't claim that you are that celebrity.

Answer 7

This question is very similar to your question.You can have a look at it:

https://www.sololearn.com/discuss/2472626/?ref=app

J⭐: Thank you for finding this. :) I've updated the tags for both threads so they would be more easily found for future askers.

Answer 8

Naqab Posh It's really a wrong way to enter the world of coding by a 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙄𝙩𝙮 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚. And this is also against of sololearn's 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙨 Tibor Santa have said.

𝙄𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣.

This is also illegal work because if a user use name 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙩 it may harm, hurt or it may be in the bad result 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮.

Answer 9

You can do that but, i'll not sugest you to do so because it will be of no use . Why to use another's id for popularity if you can do this by your own efforts.
Always be the one that you are .
(You may use any fantasy avtar instead).

Answer 10

Tibor Santa i used a imaginary character is it fine?

Answer 11

Hi