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TOS-breaking names: another clarification is needed
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PrinceShroob✭✭✭✭✭Lastly to address the point above, we do recognize that this process can be very frustrating, as many of you are just trying to have fun and bring your roleplay characters to life. For them to have a place in the world you're playing in. Sometimes real world legal protection comes into play and we understand it isn't ideal, but is a necessary part of making sure everyone is protected here.
Hopefully this was somewhat helpful. We will have more instances like this, but we will take these to customer service each time to chat about how we can make the process better so that there are better ways to allow everyone to be able to roleplay.
With all due respect, you have not mitigated my concern that 6.1 is far, far broader than your clarification suggests. You are focused only on duplicating in-game names of characters or places, but the actual text of the offending section covers all names covered by intellectual property laws in the entire world, with no mitigating circumstances. Is customer service all copyright lawyers who can make determinations about what is and isn't protected by intellectual property laws the world over?
Furthermore, the text of 6.1 does not cover making a character with the same name as a NPC--it covers using names protected by intellectual property laws, which is not the same thing unless Zenimax has trademarked every single name and place name in the game (per the U.S. Copyright Office, names may not be copyrighted). And what would customer service do in a case where different jurisdictions' intellectual property laws conflict (see The Phantom of the Opera example I provided)?
Additionally, please clarify if existing character names can retroactively violate 6.1 if a new character or place is introduced after the player names that character.Edited by PrinceShroob on December 16, 2022 3:16AM3 -
TiaFrye✭✭✭✭✭
✭spartaxoxo wrote: »Well aware of that. Point is the general thought of the population was that replicating NPC name as is - is violation. I know a lot of people who have characters using NPCs names but not in form that is used in game on these NPCs - different spelling, adding words. That was the question and now they're investigating.
Sure, and it's a good question. But, for me it feels like the example cited is re-arranging an existing name than adding something new.
Like
Virian Naryu
Instead of
Naryu Virian
Rather the question is more like adding something new e.g your example of
Totally not Fennorian.
So, it brings to mind rather simply rearranging is good enough. I would imagine not.
NPCs with family names have something to rearrange but I never saw anyone trying that.
While NPCs like Fennorian and Caska are just that. Same for Welkynars and many other NPCs. Their dialogue and world name is one word even though they might have canon rank or family name. Adding anything will be different form displayed name so to speak. Even family name already taken by them in canon.Edited by TiaFrye on December 16, 2022 2:54AM0 -
PrinceShroob✭✭✭✭✭According to a search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office's trademark database, there is no trademark registered for "Relequen." Per the U.S. Copyright Office, names may not be copyrighted.
Section 6.1 of the code of conduct states that "Names or material protected by copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights cannot be used at any time except by the rightsholder... Any use of material protected by intellectual property rights that is not wholly owned by the account owner is a violation of the Agreement, including the Code of Conduct."
The name "Relequen" is not protected by United States copyright and is not a registered United States trademark. Ergo, unless Zenimax can prove that it holds intellectual property rights in that name under some other applicable law, the username "CaptainRelequen" is not a violation of 6.1.5 -
AzuraFan✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭This is a good point since anything biblical is notr protected by copyright
Not true. The translations from the original language (which means all English bibles, for example) are copyrighted. Not sure about the names, but you can't just reproduce bible verses without using the copyright statement that specific translation provides, and you're only allowed to use a certain number of verses.
ETA: there are some English bibles in the public domain, but most of the well known versions are not.
Edited by AzuraFan on December 16, 2022 4:18AM1 -
spartaxoxo✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭PrinceShroob wrote: »According to a search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office's trademark database, there is no trademark registered for "Relequen." Per the U.S. Copyright Office, names may not be copyrighted.
Section 6.1 of the code of conduct states that "Names or material protected by copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights cannot be used at any time except by the rightsholder... Any use of material protected by intellectual property rights that is not wholly owned by the account owner is a violation of the Agreement, including the Code of Conduct."
The name "Relequen" is not protected by United States copyright and is not a registered United States trademark. Ergo, unless Zenimax can prove that it holds intellectual property rights in that name under some other applicable law, the username "CaptainRelequen" is not a violation of 6.1.
They don't have to file for separate copyright protection for each individual character to have copyright right protection for them as part of their unique individual work. In addition, trademarks are different than copyright.Edited by spartaxoxo on December 16, 2022 5:51AM4 -
Turtle_Bot✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭PrinceShroob wrote: »Lastly to address the point above, we do recognize that this process can be very frustrating, as many of you are just trying to have fun and bring your roleplay characters to life. For them to have a place in the world you're playing in. Sometimes real world legal protection comes into play and we understand it isn't ideal, but is a necessary part of making sure everyone is protected here.
Hopefully this was somewhat helpful. We will have more instances like this, but we will take these to customer service each time to chat about how we can make the process better so that there are better ways to allow everyone to be able to roleplay.
Additionally, please clarify if existing character names can retroactively violate 6.1 if a new character or place is introduced after the player names that character.
This point here is something that needs to be clarified especially. Does the team take steps to avoid this from occurring or are players who end up with future npcs/locations named the same as, or similar enough to, their existing characters, just sweet out of luck, even though the player had the name first?
@ZOS_Kevin it would be a big help if some clarification on this can be provided.0 -
PrinceShroob✭✭✭✭✭spartaxoxo wrote: »They don't have to file for separate copyright protection for each individual character to have copyright right protection for them as part of their unique individual work. In addition, trademarks are different than copyright.
Yes and no. 6.1 explicitly contemplates "...material protected by copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights." I mentioned copyright and trademark because these are both mentioned in 6.1.
Under 17 U.S.C. §102(a), characters are not included in the list of works of authorship. Warner Bros. Pictures v. Columbia Broadcasting held that characters ordinarily may not be copyrighted. Subsequent cases have stated several tests which can grant fictional characters copyright protection, which would indeed attach automatically. It is possible that Relequen is protected by copyright, but it is also possible he is not.
And this discussion is limited to United States copyright law, while 6.1 in theory allows for a violation by using a copyrighted name protected by any intellectual property law in the world. I am not familiar with all copyright laws in the world. Then again, I doubt Zenimax's legal department is, either, and I am almost positive that support--which fields name violation reports--is not.
All this is to say that violating 6.1 requires myriad legal determinations that I highly doubt customer service considers. If the purpose of 6.1 is to prevent sharing names with NPCs and bosses, it should damn well say that instead of implicitly saying that customer service is qualified to make snap determinations about whether certain names are protected by intellectual property laws somewhere in the world.Edited by PrinceShroob on December 16, 2022 2:11PM2 -
Cryptor✭✭✭a little common sense would be great here, don't impersonate NPCs, well-known in-game characters, etc.. it;s really not that hard to comprehendCasually Xbox Guild: Discord Server - Recruiting Thread - Guild Website - My information: Instagram - Twitch Stream - Youtube Channel - Discord Server - Xbox GT: OGCryptor - Mastodon Profile11 -
Syldras✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭a little common sense would be great here, don't impersonate NPCs, well-known in-game characters, etc.. it;s really not that hard to comprehend
This still does not answer the question what happens if an npc bearing the same name as a player character is added later on.
Edited by Syldras on December 16, 2022 3:30PM@Syldras | PC | EU
The forceful expression of will gives true honor to the Ancestors.
Sarayn Andrethi, Telvanni mage (Main)
Darvasa Andrethi, his "I'm NOT a Necromancer!" sister
Malacar Sunavarlas, Altmer Ayleid vampire4 -
Eiagra✭✭✭✭✭I remember making a temporary Argonian once to help someone move inventory around, which I named Ribbed-for-Her-Pleasure. I deleted it, since I didn't need to raise a character, but I do wonder whether that might've been considered too risque for the rules if I'd kept it. Doesn't seem too much worse than Lifts-Her-Tail.██████ █████████ ███████ In verity.0 -
MJ202✭✭✭✭Someone reported my necromancer for the name Talitha *** which is Aramaic for "little girl arise." Its what Jesus said to the little girl when he raised her from the dead, so I thought i would be a good name for a female necromancer. Zos forced a name change. Case and point: there is no rhyme or reason or consistency. There is no method to their madness. They are just making it up as they go along.
Depending on the version of Biblical translituration you read, there are three possible spellings from Aramaic to English. Two versions are four letters, versus three letters, and those two both begin with the letter K, versus the letter C. Likewise Talitha could also be spelled as Talita when used in conjunction with one of the four-letter, second words. Further, the four letter versions of the words do not have the same pronunciation as the three letter version.
I would think you would be okay with a name change to one of the four-letter versions of the second word in the phrase.1 -
Malkiv✭✭✭✭✭PrinceShroob wrote: »According to a search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office's trademark database, there is no trademark registered for "Relequen." Per the U.S. Copyright Office, names may not be copyrighted.
Section 6.1 of the code of conduct states that "Names or material protected by copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights cannot be used at any time except by the rightsholder... Any use of material protected by intellectual property rights that is not wholly owned by the account owner is a violation of the Agreement, including the Code of Conduct."
The name "Relequen" is not protected by United States copyright and is not a registered United States trademark. Ergo, unless Zenimax can prove that it holds intellectual property rights in that name under some other applicable law, the username "CaptainRelequen" is not a violation of 6.1.
How on earth have these account administrative actions become conflated with litigation? ZOS isn't litigating over the use of portions of IP when used as a character name - they're simply performing account administration - which does not apply under any copyright law. Bringing up the US legal system has absolutely no bearing at all on account administrative actions - none at all. Using the US legal system to argue the nature of account administration is egregious; It's not the same thing, and should not be conflated as the same thing.PC-NA | PvP (Gray Host & BGs) | PvE (vTrials & vDGs)8 -
Elsonso✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Also what happens if they "stole" my name? I have a character whose last name is Nighthollow and has been for years before the Dark Heart of Skyrim. (I have a theme in which my characters names are {something that fits them}hollow. So like Stonehollow/Frosthollow ect.) So why should I have to change my name when the first time the Nighthollow clan's name is mentioned in TES lore is the Dark Heart of Skyrim?
This is an interesting question. What would happen in that case, if an npc with the same (or a very similar) name is added later? Would the player character's name have to be changed?
That presents the interesting ethical situation where someone at ZOS covets a name and decides to use it, ultimately forcing the player to change their name so someone at ZOS can use it.
PrinceShroob wrote: »The name "Relequen" is not protected by United States copyright and is not a registered United States trademark. Ergo, unless Zenimax can prove that it holds intellectual property rights in that name under some other applicable law, the username "CaptainRelequen" is not a violation of 6.1.
The name "Relequen" is used in ESO, and my interpretation is that "Captain", a title not a proper name, is not enough of a distinction. Now, if they had used "GinaRelequen" that might have been acceptable.
The alternate spelling Talitha Koum should be alright, I imagine.
At that point, you run into conflicting uses of the term with places and businesses.Edited by Elsonso on December 16, 2022 6:16PM2 -
spartaxoxo✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭PrinceShroob wrote: »spartaxoxo wrote: »They don't have to file for separate copyright protection for each individual character to have copyright right protection for them as part of their unique individual work. In addition, trademarks are different than copyright.
Yes and no. 6.1 explicitly contemplates "...material protected by copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights." I mentioned copyright and trademark because these are both mentioned in 6.1.
All of the ESO characters are automatically protected by the copyright afforded to ESO. They don't need to file for each individual character to enjoy copyright protection for that character. 6.1 is properly worded because it also includes characters that aren't the property of the Elder Scrolls Online.
So you can't name your character Razum-Dar OR Harry Potter.
You're trying to argue that they don't hold the copyright to the characters of their game, based off not trademarking the name, which is not a correct way to determine copyright. It's literally a different thing. And that then use that incorrect assumption to argue why they shouldn't change names, when that's got little to do with anything.Edited by spartaxoxo on December 16, 2022 9:53PM4 -
spartaxoxo✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭The name "Relequen" is used in ESO, and my interpretation is that "Captain", a title not a proper name, is not enough of a distinction. Now, if they had used "GinaRelequen" that might have been acceptable.
Also the character Relequen literally holds the title of captain. I don't see any real distinction between "Relequen, Wing Captain" and "Captain Relequen." It's just rearranging the way the name is presented in the lorebook. I don't think it negates the initial question that was posed. I think that question is worthy of distinction.
Edited by spartaxoxo on December 16, 2022 9:49PM2 -
ElvenOverlord✭✭✭✭a little common sense would be great here, don't impersonate NPCs, well-known in-game characters, etc.. it;s really not that hard to comprehend
That's obvious and the OP reiterated that fact in the original post. That's not the question or clarification being asked about.Edited by ElvenOverlord on December 16, 2022 10:34PM0 -
Grega✭✭✭✭✭LesserCircle wrote: »
Well it’s unclear wether character names are only ones enforced or account names as well.
If account names as well … then there are many many accounts I’ve seen that use ZOS IP for its name. almost every dlc dungeon boss name has been copied at this point. Either from when it was on PTS or after launch.0 -
JavaRen✭✭✭✭✭So let me see if I understand the initial concern here. A person makes a character with a legal, lore friendly name that, at some future point, is also used by ZOS for an NPC. The fear is that the name would then be a TOS violation and result in disciplinary action (beyond the obvious forced, though free, name change.)
Uhm, yeah, I wouldn't worry about that.1 -
JoeCapricorn✭✭✭✭✭
✭It seems a lot of these cases of non-offending names being deemed a "violation" of TOS are really the result of someone weaponizing customer support against someone they dislike in game.
And it seems that Section 6.1 is vague enough that it can be weaponized by cyberbullies in such a way. It should be rewritten. Here's my recommendation:
"Section 6.1: <blank>"
Even disallowing people from names such as "Abnur Tharn", "Queen Ayrenn", "M'aiq The Liar" or "Cloudrest" kinda doesn't make a lot of sense. What harm can someone do "impersonating" an NPC? What if someone really wanted to play a role as their own version of Queen Ayrenn? There could even be other people in Tamriel named Ayrenn, Fennorian or Relequen. An Argonian that uses levitation magic to take naps up in the sky could be named "Cloud-Rest". I'm willing to bet Rolis Hlaalu isn't exactly a unique name either.
I've seen a lot of players emulate the looks of popular NPCs or characters from other properties, and in my view a character name is only a facet of that look. It's cosmetic, nothing else, and it doesn't cause any copyright violation or harm.
Is it that they might try and use such a name to take advantage of others?
Section 6.1 also has me thinking about another curious situation. It seems to apply to any player created content, not just names. What if someone creates trademarked content through player housing? Not sure what that would look like, though Disney seems to easily gets its toes in a twist over things so maybe a Mickey Mouse made out of Daedric Thrones. Is it even possible to enforce something like that?
I'd imagine they have ways to do so in case someone did a rude sculpture or something.I simp for vampire lords and Glemyos Wildhorn3 -
PrinceShroob✭✭✭✭✭How on earth have these account administrative actions become conflated with litigation? ZOS isn't litigating over the use of portions of IP when used as a character name - they're simply performing account administration - which does not apply under any copyright law. Bringing up the US legal system has absolutely no bearing at all on account administrative actions - none at all. Using the US legal system to argue the nature of account administration is egregious; It's not the same thing, and should not be conflated as the same thing.
Actually, intellectual property law has everything to do with name violations.
The disciplinary action at issue here was based on a violation of section 6.1 of the code of conduct. The section states that a violation occurs if the user makes use of "material protected by intellectual property rights that is not wholly owned by the account owner". Therefore, any violation of 6.1 must be predicated on the existence of intellectual property rights in the material.
That is my point: the stated purpose of that section is prevent players using the names of NPCs. But 6.1 is simultaneously too broad and, yet, somehow, manages to miss its purpose if Zenimax does not have intellectual property rights in the name (as I have said repeatedly, names cannot be copyrighted under United States law; Zenimax does not have a registered trademark in this name; therefore, any possible intellectual property rights in the name at issue must arise from some other source of protection).
No IP protection, no violation. But people pay good money to litigate whether intellectual property protections exist and it's not at all always clear-cut--and under 6.1, end users and support are just supposed to know?spartaxoxo wrote: »All of the ESO characters are automatically protected by the copyright afforded to ESO. They don't need to file for each individual character to enjoy copyright protection for that character. 6.1 is properly worded because it also includes characters that aren't the property of the Elder Scrolls Online.
So you can't name your character Razum-Dar OR Harry Potter.
You're trying to argue that they don't hold the copyright to the characters of their game, based off not trademarking the name, which is not a correct way to determine copyright. It's literally a different thing. And that then use that incorrect assumption to argue why they shouldn't change names, when that's got little to do with anything.
I did not say that Zenimax did not have copyright over the characters. I said it did not have copyright over their names because it cannot have copyright over their names under United States law and that it may have copyright over characters, but does not necessarily.
Please see DC Comics v. Towle, 989 F. Supp. 2d 948 (C.D. Cal. 2013) for a discussion of case law regarding copyright for fictional characters.
I will admit that the diversion into character copyright was not precisely on point, as the violation at issue here, and the topic of discussion, concerns character and account names rather than creating "clones" of characters.
You cannot copyright a name under United States law (see also 17 U.S.C. §102(a)), so you can't name your character Harry Potter not because the name is copyrighted, but because Warner Brothers owns the trademark. Possibly copyright or other intellectual property protections covering names may exist under other countries' intellectual property laws, which would cause the name at issue to violate 6.1.
Of course, it is a bizarre, onerous burden to place it upon the end user or customer support to be familiar with every single work protected by intellectual property laws anywhere in the world.3 -
spartaxoxo✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭PrinceShroob wrote: »Of course, it is a bizarre, onerous burden to place it upon the end user or customer support to be familiar with every single work protected by intellectual property laws anywhere in the world.
Except they are saying you can't name your character after characters that enjoy copyright protection. They aren't saying the names are copyrighted. They are making an administrative decision that you cannot name your character after a different character that has copyright protection.
So, no Razum-Dar. No Harry Potter. No Shazam. Etc. Etc.Edited by spartaxoxo on December 17, 2022 5:50AM5 -
Arunei✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭
I think the main point here that you're maybe overlooking is that ZOS isn't giving out copyright infringement notices to people trying to name their characters after ones that exist in-game. They're simply enforcing a rule they have that isn't breaking any laws to enforce. Just like they can moderate these forums and delete whatever they like without people being able to say "you're violating my freedom of speech". In a private forum the owner is allowed to dictate what content is or isn't available. So it doesn't matter if ZOS has copyrighted or trademarked names of ESO's characters or not, they're within their legal right to say people can't use the names of existing characters and such.PrinceShroob wrote: »How on earth have these account administrative actions become conflated with litigation? ZOS isn't litigating over the use of portions of IP when used as a character name - they're simply performing account administration - which does not apply under any copyright law. Bringing up the US legal system has absolutely no bearing at all on account administrative actions - none at all. Using the US legal system to argue the nature of account administration is egregious; It's not the same thing, and should not be conflated as the same thing.
Actually, intellectual property law has everything to do with name violations.
The disciplinary action at issue here was based on a violation of section 6.1 of the code of conduct. The section states that a violation occurs if the user makes use of "material protected by intellectual property rights that is not wholly owned by the account owner". Therefore, any violation of 6.1 must be predicated on the existence of intellectual property rights in the material.
That is my point: the stated purpose of that section is prevent players using the names of NPCs. But 6.1 is simultaneously too broad and, yet, somehow, manages to miss its purpose if Zenimax does not have intellectual property rights in the name (as I have said repeatedly, names cannot be copyrighted under United States law; Zenimax does not have a registered trademark in this name; therefore, any possible intellectual property rights in the name at issue must arise from some other source of protection).
No IP protection, no violation. But people pay good money to litigate whether intellectual property protections exist and it's not at all always clear-cut--and under 6.1, end users and support are just supposed to know?spartaxoxo wrote: »All of the ESO characters are automatically protected by the copyright afforded to ESO. They don't need to file for each individual character to enjoy copyright protection for that character. 6.1 is properly worded because it also includes characters that aren't the property of the Elder Scrolls Online.
So you can't name your character Razum-Dar OR Harry Potter.
You're trying to argue that they don't hold the copyright to the characters of their game, based off not trademarking the name, which is not a correct way to determine copyright. It's literally a different thing. And that then use that incorrect assumption to argue why they shouldn't change names, when that's got little to do with anything.
I did not say that Zenimax did not have copyright over the characters. I said it did not have copyright over their names because it cannot have copyright over their names under United States law and that it may have copyright over characters, but does not necessarily.
Please see DC Comics v. Towle, 989 F. Supp. 2d 948 (C.D. Cal. 2013) for a discussion of case law regarding copyright for fictional characters.
I will admit that the diversion into character copyright was not precisely on point, as the violation at issue here, and the topic of discussion, concerns character and account names rather than creating "clones" of characters.
You cannot copyright a name under United States law (see also 17 U.S.C. §102(a)), so you can't name your character Harry Potter not because the name is copyrighted, but because Warner Brothers owns the trademark. Possibly copyright or other intellectual property protections covering names may exist under other countries' intellectual property laws, which would cause the name at issue to violate 6.1.
Of course, it is a bizarre, onerous burden to place it upon the end user or customer support to be familiar with every single work protected by intellectual property laws anywhere in the world.
As for characters from other franchises/sources, I believe I had read somewhere a while back that they disallow those for their own legal safety.Character List [RP and PvE]:Stands-Against-Death: Argonian Magplar Healer - Crafter
Krisiel: Redguard Stamsorc DPS - Literally crazy Werewolf, no like legit insane. She nuts
Kiju Veran: Khajiit Stamblade DPS - Ex-Fighters Guild Suthay who likes to punch things, nicknamed Tinykat
Niralae Elsinal: Altmer Stamsorc DPS - Young Altmer with way too much Magicka
Sarah Lacroix: Breton Magsorc DPS - Fledgling Vampire who drinks too much water
Slondor: Nord Tankblade - TESified verson of Slenderman
Marius Vastino: Imperial <insert role here> - Sarah's apathetic sire who likes to monologue
Delthor Rellenar: Dunmer Magknight DPS - Sarah's ex who's a certified psychopath
Lirawyn Calatare: Altmer Magplar Healer - Traveling performer and bard who's 101% vanilla bean
Gondryn Beldeau: Breton Tankplar - Sarah's Mages Guild mentor and certified badass old person
Gwendolyn Jenelle: Breton Magplar Healer - Friendly healer with a coffee addiction
Soliril Larethian- Altmer Magblade DPS - Blind alchemist who uses animals to see and brews plagues in his spare time
Tevril Rallenar: Dunmer Stamcro DPS - Delthor's "special" younger brother who raises small animals as friends
Celeroth Calatare: Bosmer <insert role here> - Shapeshifting Bosmer with enough sass to fill Valenwood
PC - NA - EP - CP1000+
Avid RPer. Hit me up in-game @Ras_Lei if you're interested in getting together for some arr-pee shenanigans!9 -
VaranisArano✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Well, Gina's comments in the other thread seemed to suggest that names like mine are fine.
Varanis Arano is named after the Varanis region of Stonefalls in ESO and the Arano family from Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC.
Now? It feel like things got more confusing again instead of clearing the air.3 -
Ratzkifal✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭That reminds me of a lawsuit. A barber shop in my country was sued for using the name of a celebrity and calling it "[that celebrity]'s barber shop". The court ruled that because the owner of the barber shop happened to have identical first and last name to the celebrity, they would be allowed to continue using this name for their shop. If your real life name was Abnur Tharn, would you be able to use that for your character?
Also in the case of Prince Charles becoming king, what if you had a character called "King Charles III" before the queen died, but now King Charles is a real life person? Do you suddenly need change that character's name despite it being okay before?
What about works that the copyright already expired on? Can I name a character Winnie the Pooh in 2024 when that copyright expires?
I find these rules to be needlessly confusing. The only thing that should be forbidden in names are offensive or insulting terms. You can't break someone's copyright by naming your character XYZ because there is zero possibility for your character to be confused with the original, nor are there any damages from that.Edited by Ratzkifal on December 17, 2022 3:06PMThis Bosmer was tortured to death. There is nothing left to be done.3 -
Elsonso✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭VaranisArano wrote: »Well, Gina's comments in the other thread seemed to suggest that names like mine are fine.
Varanis Arano is named after the Varanis region of Stonefalls in ESO and the Arano family from Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC.
The only issue I can think of is if they want to name a character "Varanis Arano".
That said, I doubt that ZOS gives much thought to whether they are stepping on a player's use of names when they create new characters. My assumption is that if they happen to pick one that is in use, they won't even notice the conflict. Later, when the character is out on Live, Customer Support will eventually have the player do a rename. An appeal saying "I was using it first" will probably not be successful.
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