tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jul 11 19:06:08 2003

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Re: Klingon - Terminology Databases (IMHO)

[email protected] wrote:
> In my mind this creates an interesting question.  Can copyright law extend
> to a language?

I'd imagine no, except for created ones...

> I understand that the books are copyrighted, and believe this to be right,
> but the Collins and Oxford English dictionaries are also copyrighted, but
> we don't have to reference them every time we right an essay or thesism or
> even use words. 

Copyright realistically covers content and presentation.  In a nutshell,
what's REALLY copyrighted is the The Klingon Dictionary (and various other
sources).  Note that we don't violate any copyright laws by writing Klingon
here, because we're not reproducing TKD et al.

> I think what I'm trying to say, and I wish I could say this in Klingon, is
> that the language is now open, and although we need to respect the
> canoninity of sources of the language, there is nothing to stop us, the
> community that speaks the language developing it further.

This is essentially what has been happening over the years...

> Does anyone else out there feel that Klingon should be made "Open Source"
> and open to a regulatory body such as the KLI to develop further, or do
> you all think that any developments should only come from Mark Okrand?

This question has come up before, and groups have splintered off before over
that issue.  I think the general consensus here is that it should remain
Okrandian; your mileage may vary elsewhere however.

But as a sidenote, Paramount has been fairly litigious in the past, or have
threatened to be on many occasions.  It would be an interesting court case
if it came down to Paramount saying the language couldn't be used without
their express permission (something I doubt will happen, but you never know),
but the problem is, the KLI couldn't afford to defend their position.  But
if they could, I'd be curious as to what the decision was...
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