Harlan Ellison COTEF Lawsuit Gains Momentum
- Thread starter Ryan Thomas Riddle
- Start date
Some of us here do subscribe to the Guild's rules and are at least a little bit familiar with the MBA as it stands today.
That one was because Michelle Forbes didn't want to do a regular series. There wouldn't have been a royalty issue because the episode "Ensign Ro" was written by Rick Berman & Michael Piller, same as the "Created By" credit in Deep Space Nine.
But it is why we got Tom Paris rather than Nick Locarno and T'Pol rather than T'Pau. At least, that's what I heard...
Anyway, the movie was really a lot of fun: made me nostalgic for college, befroe Ellison was deposed as my favorite writer of gonzo SF by PKD.
Anyway, the movie was really a lot of fun: made me nostalgic for college, befroe Ellison was deposed as my favorite writer of gonzo SF by PKD.
It's a shame about the former as it would have made the character more interesting. The producers denied that they didn't use the character due to royalties (they claimed the reason they didn't use Locrano was that they felt that the character was irredeemable) but I am not sure I buy that.
As to T'Pau, thank god that didn't happen. Although it would have been interesting to see the reaction in this forum if it was T'Pau that was doing decon scenes and giving Trip neuropressure massages.
number6
Vice Admiral
It's a shame about the former as it would have made the character more interesting. The producers denied that they didn't use the character due to royalties (they claimed the reason they didn't use Locrano was that they felt that the character was irredeemable) but I am not sure I buy that.
As to T'Pau, thank god that didn't happen. Although it would have been interesting to see the reaction in this forum if it was T'Pau that was doing decon scenes and giving Trip neuropressure massages.
I would have loved to see that scene with T'Pau as played by the actress that played her in Amok Time!
Thee art pitching a tent in thy pants. Kroyka!
There was a time when she might have been able to pull it off.
NOTE: My use of the phrase "pull it off" is not intended as innuendo.
Yes, but this would be dealing with the MBA as it was in the 1960's which was a VERY different animal than it is today, in addition to which the MBA is only a starting point and we have no idea what specific terms were or were not negotiated into Ellison's contract over and above what the MBA requires.
His lawsuit is referring specifically to guarantees in the MBA, which is why he is also suing the WGA for not enforcing the guarantees.
LOL!!
And since I actually like that episode, I might have to apologize to him too.
Bri
RobertScorpio
Pariah
The satisfaction of holding Paramount and the WGA to their legal responsibilities. Writers are pissed on all the time in Hollywood. HE simply won't accept that. Good for him.
RobertScorpio
Pariah
But what would he get? More money? Is this about money or is it a matter of beating Paramount? Or does he want some residuals for YESTERDAY's SON (the book) and the episode of TAS where the Guardian appeared? What damages is he specifically after?
Rob
I dunno. Haven't read the court papers.
He wants the contracts honored and not to let corporations pocket money that is not contractually theirs, and to set a precedent for other writers so the WGA can't wiggle out of their obligations. After all, you're forced to join the WGA if you sell a script to Hollywood, so if you're required to join, they have to be required to keep up their end of the bargain.
If the court finds in his favor and its findings are upheld, the MBA would be interpreted as to obligate studios to pay him and every other writer who uses the MBA a royalty fee every time a character or concept of theirs from an episode of a television program is used in a significant way ("significant" according to the definition the court will have to develop in this ruling) in a novel, comic, video game, or other piece of tie-in merchandise. And this would apply to every piece of tie-in merchandise produced for any television program. I imagine that they may owe the writers back royalties on previously-published works, too.
For example, the Crucible novel trilogy features the characters of Edith Keeler and the Guardian of Forever. Edith Keeler appears both in original scenes detailing what McCoy's life was like in the alternate timeline he created before Kirk and Spock went back to recover him, and in scenes that are based upon scenes from "The City on the Edge of Forever," though those scenes are also expanded and used in the larger context of telling a story about Kirk's life. The Guardian appears both in sequences matching those from the episode, and in original scenes. The entire story of the episode is used as a jumping-off point for the characters of McCoy, Spock, and Kirk, as all three are haunted by their decisions in that episode for the rest of their lives.
If the court finds in Ellison's favor, the use of his characters, even in original ways, would obligate CBS to give him a royalty fee. Similarly, a novel featuring, say, the character of T'Pau in a supporting role as the new First Minister of Vulcan, negotiating with United Earth in the Coalition of Planets as tensions rise between the Coalition and the Romulan Star Empire -- which is what happens in the Star Trek: Enterprise novels The Good That Men Do and Kobayashi Maru -- would oblige CBS to pay the estate of Theodore Sturgeon a royalty, since he created T'Pau in "Amok Time."
Bottom line: Tie-in merchandise making use of characters and concepts created by writers using the MBA would become more expensive to produce, but the writers would now be getting some compensation for their works continuing to make money for the studios, instead of not getting anything even while the studios profit off of their work. How this would affect the content of tie-ins is unknown.
