posted
John, infringing on Paramount's copyright is something most of us fan designers and artists have done from time to time. The whole field of Trek tech fandom would likely not exist if copyright laws were strictly adhered to. Whether or not you or Lulu.com makes a profit off of Paramount is your business and your risk.
However, the morality/legality of infringing on and profiting from Paramount's copyright is not what concerned me. I suspect what most fan artists and designers are concerned about is the use of their own designs and other works without permission or recognition. Although fan works are clearly derived from Paramount's property since they exist in the Trek universe, we spend a lot of time and effort producing them and feel that we should, at the very least, receive some recognition for our efforts and have some say in how our works are used. Unfortunately, we usually don't have any say or receive any recognition, since the Internet is a wild frontier where fan works are often perceived to be in the public domain since they are already "rip-offs" of Paramount property and not deserving of any legal protection. However, when we do see our works being used without permission or recognition, we reverse the right to get pissed off.
In every case when someone has asked to use my designs, I have said yes. I always thank him for asking, since I know he could have easily used them without asking. Asking is the nice thing to do.
So, John, I'd buy a copy of your book!
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
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Do you have all of the ships in that style?? I've always wanted to see the ships in profile done all in the same way - everyone seems to just use the black and white ones from the encyclopaedia but they are all done in a different style.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Makotokat: Someone should host it!
Fuck yes. Really, wee Bairns has a fantastic idea here and, if we could make it an kinda "open source" thing where additions could be submitted, it would rock even further....
...but that leads (sorta) into the realms of (the mostly very good) JOAT and (the mostly awful) Starship Schematic Database wherein any awful kitbash is accepted.
Still, I'd love to see all that stuff gathered online for download (artists credited, of course).
Even moreso, I'd love to see one huuuuge ship-size-comparison chart. I loves those!
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
My god, you guys are a forgiving bunch. (I'm not complaining, mind you. After my blunder, I expected more hostility.) I very much appreciate your understanding.
As for the Illustrator tracings I did, yes, they are all in that blue monochrome styling. A few more examples...
The Connie refit:
FASA's Continent class...
Todd Guenther's classic Durance...
Masao's Wasp...
As for my effort being released, if Identity Crisis wanted to put the pdf up for download, he's more than welcome to. Just don't expect much from it, guys. Like he mentioned, it doesn't list where each number's source is from (like most NCC lists) simply because only I wanted to make myself a nice uncluttered list of names/numbers. And with fans always creating more ships (and thus registries), the work would never actually be complete. I'm sure I've missed thousands of numbers. Or will miss. Or whatever.
quote:Originally posted by Wee Bairns: As for my effort being released, if Identity Crisis wanted to put the pdf up for download, he's more than welcome to.
Ironic, as my, sadly not very often updated, web site wasn't one of the ones referenced as a source.
(And very soon I'm going to be really glad that I moved host and got a gazillion times more bandwidth...)
-------------------- "My theories appal you, my heresies outrage you, I never answer letters and you don't like my tie." - The Doctor
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Um... Chris pointed this out to me, as I didn't take a very close look. You may want to flip the drawings WB. All those ships are facing right and have their gangway hatches shown, which would mean they're on the starboard side, which they aren't.
--Jonah
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
I feel bad for complaining now, he's only nicked two of my drawings and one is a design that I disowed almost immediatly. Mind you it looks allot better in monochrome than it did when I drew it. Anyway WB, all is forgiven, honest mistake, no harm done.
quote:Um... Chris pointed this out to me, as I didn't take a very close look. You may want to flip the drawings WB. All those ships are facing right and have their gangway hatches shown, which would mean they're on the starboard side, which they aren't. [Wink]
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: Um... Chris pointed this out to me, as I didn't take a very close look. You may want to flip the drawings WB. All those ships are facing right and have their gangway hatches shown, which would mean they're on the starboard side, which they aren't.
I got in the habit of pointing my ships to the left because: 1) I draw everything (starships, airplanes, dinosaurs, naked ladies) from the head, and that's easier for this right-hander when the head is on the left; 2) I restarted designing starships by Xeroxing pictures from Ships of the Star Fleet, which were always oriented this way, and 3) airplane profiles, which I grew up drawing, usually show the left side of the planes, since that's where the pilot enters from and puts his personal markings.
Do any of you have a preference for orientation?
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
Pointing left, as well -- and I'm a lefty. Go figure. I think I subconsciously also got started because of the aerospace tradition of doing so. Every single one of the starships, boats, cars, aeroplanes, and just about anything else that can have an orientation I've designed have all pointed due left.
It's like petting a cat. In the Western/European tradition, one reads from left to right, and from top to bottom. So your eyes are trained to look from stem to stern. Turn the ship the other way and you're looking up its skirt...
Don't get me wrong, I admire a fine ass as much as anyone (organic or in-), but studying a ship "backwards" feels to me like trying to rub a cat's fur the wrong way.
--Jonah
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
Registered: Feb 2001
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