Copyrights: what can't I say?

[FRWriter]

You can mention one-off words like Jedi, especially if they are part of a culture.

Just look at certain TV series/movies.

Popular culture includes certain words invented by popular movies/shows. Nobody will ever claim copyright just for mentioning a certain term.

Don't worry about it, seriously. Though honestly mentioning that word or not shouldn't even warrant you to think too deeply about it.

If you want to be 100% sure (which is just insane... sorry, but your story is not likely to catch Disney's eyes), just use "certain space-wizards" or similar descriptions.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

#notalawyer but I'm confident you can *reference* copyright material freely in other works, on the same grounds which allow you to critique them. That wouldn't actually stop the mouse from attempting to sue, but for such a blatant abuse of copyright you could probably counter sue them for legal expenses (would need to find a law firm willing to work pro-bono, ofc).

Believe that falls under "Fair Use" - I make a lot of pop culture references in one story, and had to downplay a few for legal reasons on PocketFM (mostly with songs included - can give the title and a few words but not a full line unless I own the copyright).
Quoting the jedi code or having the character claim to be a Jedi Knight might get you into trouble if you publish for money. Just mentioning Jedi in passing should be fine. IIRC, if you're selling it through KDP, Amazon has a legal department that will usually answer specific queries for free (so they don't have to answer a C&D - and are more likely to just pull your story than warn you if they get one).