The author of this video is Colin Catchpole (@bigbangcollectables)

Featuring:

Luv’s Spinner;

Police Spinner;

Alfa Romeo Spinner;

Stratos Zero 6x6 Concept;

The author of this video is Colin Catchpole (@bigbangcollectables)

Featuring:

Probe Droid from The Empire Strikes Back;

Avatar A.M.P. Suit;

SM-33;

The Moose. Mechanized Infantry Support;

Battle Droid Concept;

District 9 Prawn Exosuit;

Assassin Droid Concept;

Here's a page from my cyberpunk comic book about character assassinations, oppressive use of generative AI, and unraveling protest movements: Shujaa the Discriminator

So, I'm interested in writing a cyberpunk story—maybe even something longer than a short story—and I've got a question about navigating the line between genre tropes and copyright infringement. The Cyberpunk IP itself has "borrowed" some ideas without facing lawsuits, like "ICE" and "Cyberspace," for example.

My current approach is to write what I want but be careful not to directly reference anything OVERLY specific, and see where it goes. I understand intellectual property (IP) law: don’t steal someone else’s work. I get that. No using their settings, characters, or named entities.

When it comes to the genre, though, there's a bit of confusion. I know the big defining franchises of cyberpunk include Neuromancer, Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, Deus Ex, and of course, the Cyberpunk IP. But here's the thing: the Cyberpunk IP seems oddly generic, despite owning a whole setting built for running those classic cyberpunk plots. It’s almost like a platform for generic cyberpunk stories (well, the PnP game literally is), and that’s part of what makes it so tricky to separate copyright from genre. How do you write generic cyberpunk when a very generic setting made for making generic home stories is part of an established IP?

Take Dungeons & Dragons, for example. It's been around 15 years longer than Cyberpunk, and it’s built on much older ideas—elves, magic, goblins. Those concepts have been around for hundreds of years. But when it comes to cyberpunk, our understanding of high-tech has only been evolving for 50 years or so. So the genre tropes are less concretely established.

My concern is this: if I mention things like full-body conversion or monowire, am I crossing a line? What if I use terms like "edgerunner" or “cyberspace”? Edgerunner, for example, is trademarked by the Cyberpunk franchise, but the term itself feels pretty generic. It's almost become an inherent part of the genre, like "mage" or "rogue" in fantasy. So, if I mention "edgerunning," is that a legal issue? What about netrunning—if someone’s running in the net, can I call it that without getting into trouble?

And then there’s cyberspace. It seems to be directly lifted from Neuromancer, so that could get tricky too. Literally stolen from Neuromancer and used in Cyberpunk, no fuss. I am not exaggerating.

Is there some sort of “infringement-o-matic” out there to help decide what's just a genre trope and what might get me sued?

I also have a gut feeling about certain terms. For example, "solo" feels like it could be more easily copyrighted—it’s too specific. "Edgerunner" feels like it’s in a grey area, and "rockerboy" seems totally fair game. Not sure why, but that’s the vibe I’m getting.

I feel like this is what most new cyberpunk writers end up doing: they look at their favorite cyberpunk media, borrow some ideas, and make a half-original mash-up of tropes—careful not to be too obvious, but still playing fast and loose with terminology.

Fantasy has been around for centuries, so it’s easier to understand what’s generic and what’s protected. But cyberpunk is still relatively new, and it’s tough to know where the line is. It’s a bit like pushing right up to the edge without crossing it. I’ve heard the original Cyberpunk creators pushed a bit too far at times, especially with Disney—who has the super-lawyers—so some people have told me that was retconned.

And if I mention someone getting "chipped"... are they technically "chipping in". If this is true, then I believe the Silverhand estate will become very annoyed with me.

Sidenote: I once asked a writing community how to write cyberpunk, and dozens of people literally told me to use the cyberpunk IP setting, which resulted in me telling dozens of people that plagerism is in fact, illegal.

Why does cyberpunk fascinate us so much? It’s a failed future. Humanity has broken itself. Money rules, nature’s dead, everything is drenched in neon despair, and yet we’re drawn to it. Why? Is it the illusion of freedom? The collapse of a status quo we already hate? Or is it something deeper, something beautiful about surviving inside the wreckage? To me it feels more like a dream wrapped in mystery but somehow I realise that actually living in that kind of future would destroy me to the core. What about you? Curious what draws you to it.

Super proud of this so hope you enjoy! Song is Fate by Boy Harsher