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Spacecowboy87
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Joined: 03 Jan 2012
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Location: Colorado

PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 7:42 pm    Post subject: Paramount license Reply with quote

I read somewhere on the SFU site that ADB's license agreement with Paramount does not include any ships or characters that they have ever put on a screen, TV or otherwise. Now then, does that pertain only to the main
characters, or does it apply to ALL characters? For example, could there ever be a scenario/fiction that included Commodore X, or Ambassador Y as seen in episode Z?
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Sgt_G
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Joined: 07 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, pretty much.

There was a Commodore Mendez in one of the episodes. If you wrote a story that also has a Commodore Mendeez in it, but it's not the SAME person (Juan instead of Jose), that's probably going to be okay seeing as Mendez is a fairly common name. But do try to stay away from the famous seven. Yes, McCoy is also a fairly common name, but in SFU the Hatfields won the feud. Shocked Hmmm. I have a name for a doctor in my next story: Dr. Hatfield. Cool
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Jean
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spacecowboy87, our contract with Paramount is pretty specific. If we haven't used the character/ship already, we cannot add it.
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Last edited by Jean on Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Spacecowboy87
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK, thanks
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kinshi
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Joined: 09 Apr 2011
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Location: Port Orchard, WA

PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I am not mistaken, everything that is SFU is primarily based on the Franz Josef 'Star Fleet Technical Manual' BUT I they also use stuff from TOS and ST:AS

So its not true that they dot use things that appeared on screen at some point, its just they are limited to the early Trek stuff and can't actually call it Trek.

Thus why we have the whole thing named "Star Fleet Battles" and not "Starfleet Battles" as the Franz Joseph book is the one that introduced that 2-word Star Fleet moniker, also why we have the Kzinti (as they appeared in TAS.), not to mention the first good look at Orion Pirates.

Also ADB has been adamant about NOT accepting FASA design crossovers. I recall years ago submitting a Baker-class FASA conversion for SFB and got it sent back with a terse love note from Steve Cole Very Happy Never made that mistake again lol.
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Steve Cole
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, we cannot use FASA stuff since somebody else owns it and we're not licensed to use it. Get five people sending me FASA stuff in the same week and the guy who sent it in on Friday is going to get a pretty terse note compared to the guy who sent it in three days earlier.

The myth (well -- one of them) is that we can use anything from TOS and TAS but that's not the case. We can use anything we have already used and nothing we haven't used. Plus we can create new stuff and use logical extrapolations.
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Spacecowboy87
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My thought was to develop a story/scenario based upon a character/incident from a TOS episode, but if I can't -- I can't. But could it be done by referring back to the episode in non-specific terms? For example, the way the Feds' first contact with the Gorns is described?
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kinshi
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You as an individual are free to come up with any scenario you want, using whatever source material you want, and can share it with your friends. ADB cannot.

As such ADB won't accept submissions that use material they are specifically not allowed to use, however that the limit of the agreement between THEM and the IP holder. You are not under such an agreement, and as an individual, derivative fair-use applies. You just cannot sell your work or profit from it in anyway w/o consent, nor will your work be accepted, acknowledged, or otherwise supported by ADB because of the limitations of the agreement they operate under.

Its why 'house rules' exist in gaming, so you can do things for yourself and your gaming group a game publisher simply cannot do.

So yes, you CAN make a scenario for yourself and your group based on a TOS episode, but ADB cannot, as such what you make will NOT be showing up in a Captain's Log or any other official ADB publication (and its doubtful they would even let you post anything about it on the ADB forums or BBS for the same reasons)

They simply cannot allow themselves to be seen as supporting something that lies outside their agreements.

Did I get that right?
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Sgt_G
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Joined: 07 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kinshi, All true. However, comma, if ADB becomes aware of something that falls under ADB's and/or Paramount's copyright being floated about on the 'web, they could be obligated to send a nice e-mail asking the poster to remove it. What you do at home vs what you do on your homepage are two different issues.

Space Cowboy: Just out of curiosity, which episode/event/character are you considering to use in your story?
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Spacecowboy87
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's the episode where the Captain-who-must-not-be-named is charged with negligently causing the death of a crewman, and said crewman in reality had staged his own death to frame the aforementioned Captain. The story I had in mind would focus on that crewman years (decades?) later after being released from custody and winding up on a pirate ship.
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dharman07
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is a question I have allways pondered. You guys own the rights to the Star Fleet universe, and can extrapolate based on what you guys normally do. Thats pretty clear.

By Extrapolation, you can have an RPG set in your alternative universe.

Could you have stories? A published selection of short stories? A Novel?

Could you produce any video based on your universe, or is it strictly a game only thing?

Just curious.
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Steve Cole
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So many questions....

First, please let ADB explain what ADB can do. I check the Forum every day and they can wait 24 hours for an answer and don't need a helpful non-employee tossing in what they honestly think is the answer.

We have published a LOT of stories (I am not sure we have hit 100 yet.) We can do novels but never had one to publisher. We can do paperback books (and have done them). Videos, sure, I guess, if specifically for the purpose of marketing the product lines (i.e., includes a ad at the end).

You cannot do a story about Kirk, not in SFU. But there are so many heroid captains and clever stories that you really don't need to do a story about Kirk.

We allude to the incident of meeting the Gorns.

We did a story that happened on the same day as BALANCE OF TERROR and included information that made the old episode better. The ship Kirk fought was one part of a fleet and the Alfred the Great fought the other part of the fleet.

If we see someone violate ADB copyrights we'll deal with it. If we see someone violate Paramount copyrights, we will report it to Paramount (and i make no prediction of their reaction).
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kinshi
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 8:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

House rules will set you free, just understand the limits of fair use if you decide to share your creation, and the potential responses you may get.
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