Harlan Ellison COTEF Lawsuit Gains Momentum
- Thread starter Ryan Thomas Riddle
- Start date
David Gerrold has chimed in on the subject. See post #222.
Now it's getting interesting!
Now it's getting interesting!
Maybe Harlan came off more like David in statements, then more people would be sympathetic.
David's always been a better diplomat than Harlan.
Hell, as Ellison says, "pay the fucking writer!" Pay 'em all.
Except you don't know of what you speak, because by the second draft the Guardians of Forever were the limbo voiced Guardian of Forever singular. All the Trek people did was slap a donut shape around the vortex and make it flash when it talked. It's still Ellison's invention and character.
I still don't understand this venom against the man. It's as if his holding other parties to the terms of their contracted arrangements and/or industry standards is like a personal affront to Star Trek. Star Trek is just a property owned by a faceless corporation that changes hands all the time. Why be in favor of a soulless entity's profit potential over that of a creator and human being?
I just don't get it...
trevanian
Rear Admiral
According to Gerrold's post, DC Fontana stands to benefit heavily if this goes through and she was staff for most of season 1 and all of season 2. So I don' tthink that is going to be the deciding aspect here.
I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the actual issues involved.
No one is whining, no matter how urgently you may beg to differ.
Video press release:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8UEm99bWVo&feature=related
PAY THE F'ING WRITER!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8UEm99bWVo&feature=related
PAY THE F'ING WRITER!
Dude got paid initially, right? Is it my fault he wasn't far-seeing enough to protect his potential future interests in the materials he created?
The fact is that he didn't respect the source material enough AT THE TIME to consider it might have value down the line. HIS mistake.
Live and learn.
And, yes, I AM a creative person and a writer and I DO like getting paid for what I do. I also have enough integrity to recognize when I was not responsible enough to look after my OWN interests to not bitch and whine like a little girl. Paramount is notorious for ripping off creative people. In a way, it's part of what they do. Not unlike the cast of Gilligan's Island who got paid for their initial performances and like 6 rebroadcasts and haven't made a dime off the show in forty years. Unfortunate, but those were the deals they made.
There is a long pedigree of people losing or not controlling the rights to their creative endeavors. Siegal and Shuster with Superman. The freaking BEATLES for God's sake. McCartney has to pay royalties to someone ELSE when he plays "Yesterday" in concert.
A shame, yeah. Trying to move the goalpost after the fact though is sad.
Back that up. He has a contract and certain rights under it and under Writer's Guild agreements with the studios. How did he not "respect the source material enough AT THE TIME to consider it might have value down the line"? Did you even read the complaint filed?
Just raise your knockers a few more inches and you'll have nothing to worry about.
Kids, unless you happen to have a copy of Ellison's contract and are well versed in contract law, especially entertainment law, you don't know what you're fucking talking about. And since Harlan still has the comic books he bought at the age of twelve, it's a pretty safe bet he has a copy of every contract for every script he ever sold, his agent and lawyer on speed dial, and, as he has done several times in the past, is enforcing his legal rights with his usual calm and charming grace.
I'd like to think any of us would stand up for ourselves with even half the tenacity that Harlan stands up for himself.
I'd like to think any of us would stand up for ourselves with even half the tenacity that Harlan stands up for himself.
maybe im wrong here but didnt he lose the rights to coteof when he sold it to paramount all those years ago?maybe instead of suing over something he wrote over forty years ago , he should actually come up with some new stories that will provide him with a revenue stream! what a jerk!
NO an author has every right to use that creation. He owns the creative rights to it desptie paramount rejected it.
He does have a right to republish that ya know.
Nathaniel
P.S
is glad someone is taking on paramount... they screw many writers for every series movie or program...
