tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Sep 23 15:10:53 2004

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: Gray area

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

qIno'rIq asks:
>What would be the case if i wrote a short story or an other work of fiction,
>that does not have the StarTrek (TM,(R),(C)) universe as a setting?
>If, for instance I wrote some fairy tale playing in modern America where
>some mystical whatsit monsters had the power to cause fiction and reality to
>disperse and conflate, so Klingons could actually be met in everyday life?

The answer can actually be found in the SkyBox copyright notices.  E.g.:

   TM, (R) c. je tera' DIS wa'-Hut-Hut-loS Paramount Pictures.  Hoch SeH.
   Paramount Pictures malja' permey bIH Star Trek pong'e' Deghmey'e' je.
   bIH lo' SkyBox International, Inc. 'e' chaw'.

   TM, (R) c.1994 Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved. "Star Trek" and
   related marks are trademarks of Paramount Pictures. SkyBox International,
   Inc. Authorized user.

N.B. "SkyBox International, Inc. Authorized user."  In other word, SkyBox 
ASKED PERMISSION (and probably paid a licensing fee) to use and sell the 
trademark names "Star Trek" and "Klingon" on their cards.  And so should you.

>[This is just an example. If someone now decides to write that story, he can
>have the idea for free, yes: Herewith, I waive this copyright! ;-)  ]

AFAIK, you can't copyright an idea for a story, only the actual story.  You 
have to do the work and actually write the story before you can claim, or 
waive, copyright.

>I would just use INTERTEXTUALITY, wouldn't I, if I tore Klingons out of
>their FICTIONAL universe just for purposes of
>   A) fictionality,
>   B) threatening physical appearance (for fearsome children, at least)
>   C) anthropomorphicality?
>And AFAIK, intertextuality is still no copyright breach!

Quvar:
> > There you got the problem: "Klingon" is a (R)egistred Trademark.

Quvar is right:  The issue here is one of trademark, not copyright.  Look 
for the circled R symbol (R) following the words "Klingon" and "Star Trek" 
on the covers of TKD, TKW, KGT, the authorized novels, etc. published by 
Simon & Schuster.  If you use the word "Klingon" then you have a problem as 
it's a trademark of Paramount Pictures and/or the Viacom Corporation (which 
owns Paramount, Simon & Schuster and lots of other things.)

>(BTW: To have the same effects, I might use Uruk-Hai from LotR. Are they
>"protected" by copyright?

Since it's a proper name invented by Tolkien, probably.  You'd have to ask 
his publisher or legal heirs to see if the copyright and/or trademarks are 
still in force.  They almost certainly are.

>Are Orcs?  Are Dwarves?

Probably not, since Tolkien didn't invent these words.

>How about - also just BTW - Salman Rushdie's short story "Chekov and Sulu"?
>This is most certainly not a copyright breach, despite names of actual Star
>Trek figures are used,

If he didn't get Paramount's permission, they are almost certainly are.

IIRC "Chekov and Sulu" appeared in the anthology "East, West" which was 
published here in the US by Pantheon Books (New York, c1994).  Chances are 
that his publisher - either Pantheon or his U.K. publisher - was the one 
who contacted Paramount and received permission to use these trademarks, 
not Rushdie himself.  (That's one of the things that editors do.)  If you 
have a copy of the book, look for the acknowledgements; they're either 
listed on the back of the title page, on a separate page or mentioned in 
the preface or introduction.

Besides, why wouldn't he respect Paramount's rights?  After all, Rushdie's 
own works - including the story "Chekov and Sulu" - are themselves 
protected by copyright from being illegally re-published and sold by thieves.



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

Back to archive top level