tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jul 15 22:29:48 2003
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Klingon and copyright
- From: Mitchell Willie <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Klingon and copyright
- Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 22:03:07 -0500
> In a way, they do. It's called Pocket Books. I've just returned from
> a weekend spent carousing with a dozen or more Trek authors. All of
> them have successfully sold Star Trek fiction, but all of their efforts
had to
> be vetted/approved by Paramount first. Sometimes such works (books,
> comics, scripts) get rejected, or sent back for corrections/revisions.
In my mind, that's the best way this system can currently work. It
seems effective from both angles, giving the artists a chance to express
themselves, and yet keeping "Trek" the way it "oughta be".
> The point is, Pocket Books is licensed to publish Trek fiction; they
> pay a price for that privilege.
This is true, but don't they also make a bit of latinum for themselves
and their authors? The KLI would seek to profit itself from these
ventures, I don't believe. If any monetary compensation were sought, it
would only be to cover the costs of the projects themselves (including
paying for any extra rights necessary to complete the project), and/or to
fund new such endeavors. I really don't forsee Paramount objecting to
such usage, at least for small educational films of a short variety
online, unless they're completely greed-centric, which I don't see
either.
Granted, longer films of a feature-length variety would possibly be
prohibited by the current scope of the rights the KLI is allowed, but if
Paramount sees that it's a monetary possibility, maybe they'll do their
own full-length feature film, or a new series, based solely on Klingons
and their culture (including their language). Ideas of this sort have
been floating around as rumors for years on the 'net.
> Similarly, the KLI is licensed to do certain things (like publish
> translations of Shakespeare, as one example), and explicitly
> constrained from certain other activities.
Exactly how would an onscreen version of the translated Hamlet fit into
the license agreement the KLI has with Paramount? I realize it would
depend on whether or not the sets were Klingon in design, and the
characters as well, but generally speaking?
> Bottom line, I think there are some very real possibilities for
> online short presentations in Klingon, ventures that would clearly be
covered by
> our license to produce educational materials. This is vastly different
> from longer film productions that would raise hackles on Paramount
> laywers and cause of grief. I look forward to discussing this in detail
during
> the qep'a'.
As far as the former is concerned, sign me up! I'm willing to do
anything I can to help, even though I may not know a lot about the
language, I can be useful. ;-)
And in response to the latter: What about a joint venture? A proposal
where Paramount would work with the KLI for a feature-length film?
Paramount could take care of sets and props, and the KLI could be the
linguistic consulting firm, etc, etc, you get the idea. Might that be
possible, with proper honey-lined words?
--Kash
________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!