tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Feb 20 09:53:16 1994
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Re: Copyrights
Kevin Geiselman writes:
> However, to Paramount, Star Trek fandom is a special case. The
> official word from Paramount (from a posting on Internet) is
> that, if you ask Paramount permission, they feel obligated to
> deny it. If you don't ask permission, they don't care.
While I admit that this IS the position the KLI has been taking, at the same
time we've also been trying to compile a stack of precedents to ensure that
the lawyers at Paramount don't suddenly descend with a legal bootsole. This
too was part of the reason for our desire to go nonprofit.
> Realize, that everyone at a Star Trek convention that sells
> uniform patterns or props is violating Paramounts copyright of
> everything that is Star Trek. If a Star Trek product does not
> have the 'circle-C' Paramount symbol, the copyright police
> could come down upon the sellor and slap a major lawsuit.
Ah, but the times, they are a'changing. I just got back from a CreationCon
in New York. I spent a bit of time in the dealers' room (trying to drum up
distributors for HolQeD of course) and got the word from one dealer that
Paramount representatives had been showing up at the last several conventions
issuing "cease and desist" orders to any dealers who didn't have legitimate
licensing.
I don't believe this is cause for panic. The obvious interpretation is that
they're just trying to protect their investment, and that if there's money to
be made off Star Trek merchandise, they want their cut. Items made by fans
for personal use, not for resale, are probably as safe as ever. But, posting
copies of the dictionary to an FTP site is surely still a big mistake.
Lawrence
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:: Dr Lawrence M Schoen, Director ::
:: The Klingon Language Institute ::
:: POB 634, Flourtown, PA 19031 USA ::
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