CBS Uses Copyright To Scuttle Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II Episode 268
McGruber writes "The NY Times ('Cookies Set to Cleared, Captain!') is reporting that CBS is blocking fan-generated internet series 'Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II' from making an episode using an unproduced script from the original series. In a statement, CBS said, 'We fully appreciate and respect the passion and creativity of the "Star Trek" fan and creative communities. This is simply a case of protecting our copyrighted material and the situation has been amicably resolved.'"
The original writer of the episode, sci-fi author Norman Spinrad, was enthusiastic about the production, and planned to direct it himself.
This is a lame story. (Score:5, Informative)
Why is this news? Someone wants to directly copy material from a large corporation's profitable franchise, and the franchise says no. I think a big "Duh?" is in order.
If orignal author of the episode most likely wrote it under contract with CBS, his enthusiasm is immaterial, as the piece was not his to be enthusiastic about once he accepted money for it. If he did not do it under contract, his enthusiasm is immaterial, as the franchise was not his to be enthusiastic about. CBS is the entity that has the rights and trademarks for Star Trek, and if we are to have a productive society, the rights of ownership must be respected.
Re:It's a perfectly valid (Score:5, Informative)
If it ever was the case (and it's doubtful), it was a long, long time ago... when Copyright didn't last more then 2 decades from the time some work of art was created. The perversion of Copyright we have today (life + 70/95 years, or perpetual in case of corporations-owned copyrights) has long outlived its usefulness as promoting art-creation.
Re:It's a perfectly valid (Score:4, Informative)
That would be the company he worked for when he did the writing. You know, got paid for working for someone else and all? Hence the copyright not being his.
Writer != owner. Your apple, your orange.
Once paid, the writer has no claim on the product if so contracted and I'll bet you real money he signed a contract to that effect.
Is there any possibility... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It's a perfectly valid (Score:5, Informative)
Access the NY Times article without having to register with this link [nytimes.com].
The article is, as is typical of the Times, full of detail about the story in question. Some salient points:
Spinrad, who's 71 now, was an enfant terrible of SF back in the 1960's. His novels "Bug Jack Barron" and "The Men in the Jungle" broke what at the time was new ground (the former for its use of vulgarity, the latter for its subject matter). He's been one of the most consistently interesting SF writers ever since, and I can't recommend his work highly enough.
Re:It's a perfectly valid (Score:4, Informative)
No, he sold it because he thought they'd make a nice TV episode with it. The author doesn't have the ability to hire actors, make sets, buy cameras, and film his own TV shows, and then get TV networks to broadcast them. So he sells his work to someone who does have all that, so that they'll use his script and turn it into a live-action TV episode. If they're not going to uphold their end of the bargain after all these years, then someone else should be allowed to use it.
Besides, this episode is probably decades old. If Congress hadn't stupidly passed unconstitutional copyright-extension laws, this thing would be in the public domain by now.
Of course, I'm not really sure how old this episode is, since I can't read TFA as it's behind a paywall, but since Phase II is a continuation of ST:TOS, I assume it was an episode written for the 60s show, and never made it to production because the show was canceled so early.