Starbuck "Replicate some marmalade, Commander - helm control is toast!"
Member # 153
posted
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: The problem is that if they do bring in species from the novels then they'd have to pay the author. And they can't have that now can they.
My understanding of the nature of Star Trek novelists' contracts - at least up until the publishing of Probe by Margaret Wander Bonanno (actually heavily rewritten by Gene deWeese) - was that Paramount owned the novel in its entirety upon completion, and that included all rights to characters, plot threads, races and such. It's very possible that the contract in question has been superceded in recent years, or that I misinterpreted the information I was given. If, however, my understanding is correct, then it opens up a lot of potential sources for little or no cost.
I'm not saying that authors don't deserve a payment for the use of their ideas, just that technically it may not be necessary in some cases. Of course, it's all academic and a digression in any case, since it would make the Trekiverse a heck of a lot more complex to start bringing in a bunch of glass spiders who really can change the laws of physics...
So, in the absence of novel Trek leaking into filmed Trek, I say... Roll on a good development arc for the Tholians, the Andorians, the Tellarites, the Orions, and of course our old friends the Gorn (who are, quite naturally, gorn but not forgotten ). And any other minor, background or one-shot races from any era who happen to turn up and join the fray (Bynars, perhaps? Anticans and Selay and Antideans, oh my!).
-------------------- "It was halfway to Rivendell when the drugs began to take effect." Hunter S. Tolkein, Fear and Loathing in Barad-Dur
Registered: Jun 1999
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I WAS IN THE FUTURE, IT WAS TOO LATE TO RSVP
Member # 709
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here's a fascinating idea.. what if, the next set of Powers-That-Be decide to acknowledge the varied licensed history of Trek. Not taking all the questionable novels at face value, of course, but acknowledging fan-favorite concepts in a filmed production, or allowing cross-genre pollination of aliens between four companies worth of comics and three companies of novels and several RPG histories.. not lifting or plagiarizing their material, but mining it for the things that fans liked the best?
since filmed ST seems to be crapping out, abandoning the 24th century after a failed movie and a refocus on new eras in the TV versions, an animated, or CGI, or cross-genre interpretation like a comic or novel arc would probably clean up, if theyd bring it in house enough to make it relevant and hype the fans the right way.. and then, if they get the juices flowing (since the filmed material is stale, fan excitement could very well be generated by a really cool CGI or animated, not-intended-for-kids movie or TV special/series, that would lead into a new filmed version later)..
quote:Originally posted by Starbuck: So, in the absence of novel Trek leaking into filmed Trek, I say... Roll on a good development arc for the Tholians,
Absolutely.
quote:the Andorians,
Most definitely.
quote:the Tellarites,
Fabulous.
quote: the Orions,
Superlative.
quote:and of course our old friends the Gorn
Uhh...try watching TOS "Arena" again, and you might catch why this would be a decisively BAD idea.
-MMoM
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Sol System: Oh my yes, pity the plight of the poor Star Trek novelists. So put upon! All they seek is artistic purity. Why, I bet they write those books for free! And, even if they didn't, there are a billion and thirty free Star Trek novels on the Web. They should just pay those authors and use their stories. Yes. I can't wait. The excitement is burning me up inside.
I'm not sure that it applies to novelists but I recall that there has been cases where TPTB decide not to use certain characters from earlier shows since it means that the scriptwriter who invented said character would have to be paid for every further episode in which they appear. One example of this is the reason why Voyager was helmed by Tom Paris instead of Nicholas Locarno, if you follow my meaning. Of course I could be wrong since my knowledge of literary legislation is very scant indeed.
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I really doubt that's the case. Characters made for a publisher/ company are the property of that publisher/ company. Not the writer. If writers got any royalty share from characters they created while working for a publisher then the writer (for Hulk I believe) that came up with Wolverine (later of the X-Men) would be a multi-millionaire and Marvel would be paying through the nose for all it's charcters. Same thing for Trek. I can see characters/stories being caught up in legal snares between the publisher and Paramount, but no writer has rights to a character. Just think of the writer that made the Borg....
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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I've actually just read something that seams to support what I had previously heard. Take a look at this interview at TrekWeb and look for the word Kziniti.
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Uh, as I recall, McNeil was hired because the casting sheet for Paris read "A roguish sort, kind of like that Locarno fellow from TNG," and, ala Poochy, it was taken seriously.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
The Kziniti are a whole seperate can of worms. They are the property of a (Niven?) Science Fiction writer that was friends with Roddenberry and allowed him to use his creation in a TAS episode. Niven was not working for Gene: he had already written several novels in the Man/Kzin Wars storyline. It was more like a crossover than anything else and nobody got screwed or anything. Lovecraft and his pals did the same thing while refrencing things that happened in one another's stories as if they were events that actually happened. It's one of the reasons the Chuthlu mythos works so well. Stephen King and Peter Sraub still do this. When Gene used his pal's characters there was no "Corperate Mentalaty" like today....and I doubt either realized the fame their creations would bring them.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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quote:Why, because they both have a "z" as their second letter and an "i" as the last? Yes! They're clearly the same!
Nope, because "Tzenkethi" is nearly an anagram of "The Kzinti".
-------------------- "Never give up. And never, under any circumstances, no matter what - never face the facts." - Ruth Gordon
Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:Why, because they both have a "z" as their second letter and an "i" as the last? Yes! They're clearly the same!
Nope, because "Tzenkethi" is nearly an anagram of "The Kzinti".
Of course! Now I see that the Talarains, Telerites, Talaxians and Tamarians are all the same species too! How could I have been so blind?
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
). And any other minor, background or one-shot races from any era who happen to turn up and join the fray (Bynars, perhaps? Anticans and Selay and Antideans, oh my!).![[Mad]](mad.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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