tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 13 15:42:42 1995

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Re: copyrights



> I would love to see what a copyright lawyer has to say about this.  My
> understanding is that languages cannot be copyrighted.  This (if true)
> would mean that anyone could publish a tlhIngan Hol dictionary or works
> describing tlhIngan Hol grammar.  As Alan mentioned "...only the
> formatting...is protected by copyright."   Thus, you could publish a list
> of words with their translations if you created the list yourself.
> 
> Qeygh

You bring up a fair point. But, sadly, it really doesn't boil down to a question
of who is right and who is wrong. Paramount has demonstrated their willingness 
to use what is often called the "Xerox" approach, litigate the opposition into 
submission.

Believe me, we've considered this, and even looked into what would be involved. 
Even with free legal services (which the KLI was offerred) we would still very 
swiftly go broke, just on air plane fares to get the lawyers to the places they 
had to be.

At present, working within the system still looks like the way to go.  The 
Paramount lawyers seem to be inching ever closer to final agreements with the 
KLI. But it's slow going. They have so many lawyers, and it seems each one wants
to read everything that involves us. So... we continue to wait.

But, once the agreements are all signed, THEN we will be able to see just what 
we've gotten out of the deal, and how much more we CAN get. There's not point to
it now, because it's all, still, in flux.

Lawrence

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Dr Lawrence M Schoen, Director   :: The KLI is a nonprofit ::
:: The Klingon Language Institute   :: tax exempt corporation ::
:: POB 634, Flourtown, PA 19031 USA :: DaH HuchlIj'e' ghonob  ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::  [email protected]  ::  [email protected]  :::  215/836-4955  ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



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