Slashdot Mirror
George Lucas Goes After Fan Sites
Arkoth writes: "Sci-fi Newswire posted that Lucasfilm has ordered two fansites to pull authentic- looking storyboards off their sites. What used to be a fun game of bringing in rumors and secret images is now starting to become more serious when Lucasfilm ordered two Web sites, NaboOnline and Aldera.net, to pull two storyboards that looked authentic from their Web sites. Looks like George is getting out the big lightsaber and slashing leaks from his movie, which is 23 months from release."
You can tell because it's marked -1, offtopic.
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Doesn't Lucas own, uh, LucasFilm? Or is that incorrect?
So if Lucas owns LucasFilm, and LF owns the storyboards...
I don't know about the Songs. I was under the impression that the works were copyrighted to the distributor/producer, and not the singer.
The nick is a joke! Really!
GPL Deconstructed
That's the most apalling mixed metaphore I've heard in a long time.
Believe with me, my saplings.
http://www.naboonline.com/episode2/storyboard.shtm l
m l right you got that, it's a shtml page, and it is still LIVE! /.2.0
OK Slashdot, don't go choping this on me now!
http://www.naboonline.com/episode2/storyboard.sht
I think it's time to fix this space in url thing....stop waiting for
Never underestimate the dark side of the Source
A better analogy would be someone breaking into this painters studio and copying a 1cm by 1cm square out of painting then sharing it with everyone.
I saw the storyboards before they were taken down and I believe their were six different images of a fight scene. That is nothing when looking at the big picture of an entire movie. Now I don't know if that is *ALL* the storyboards that were available, but there would have to be quite a few to actually ruin any part of the movie.
Lucas needs to relax and pull his head out of his ass.
Bra-vo!! You hit the nail squarely on the head!
And don't forget that ESB had the benefit if Irvin Kirshner directing. IIRC, that's the only SW movie with someone other than Lucas as director.
Speaking of goofy scenes/movies, remember that Lucas came out with one of the worst movies of all time: "Howard The Duck"!
I watched part of THX-1138. I did not like it. The camerawork was reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project, and the plot was not really developed that well. There is only one major character. Granted, the character development on the major character is wonderful, something that if Jar Jar is going to stick around, needs to have happen.
Another Lucas film, American Graffiti (his first film) was, pretty much lacked a plot. However, some of the camera angles and underlying messages were pretty cool.
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Interestingly enough, I'd refuse to take it down without proof of copyright ownership.
e.g., post it as "We don't think this is really Lucas' storyboards, but here you go."
Then when Lucasfilm lawyers swoop in, say, "prove it, show us documentation that THIS work, is copyrighted by you, and we'll happily take it down."
The interesting part there is that then you could CONFIRM the storyline by seeing what articles were taken down, which is a FAR greater coup for the rumor site than getting possibly-fictitious photoshop storyboards in the first case.
If every rumor site did that, Lucas would have to leave them alone for fear of revealing the plot by killing the sites that had the truth.
D
Um...Yeah. That's the whole point!
What we're all forgetting is that (for the most part) we were the 10-year-olds when the first trilogy came out. Star Wars has always been first and foremost a children's serial. If you expect gritty, hard-core science fiction, forget it. It will never happen.
And if you don't think Lucas was playing to the children in the original series, let provide a few reminders:
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The franchise on the children's series "Star Wars" has come to a pathetic end.
I didn't go see episode 1. I don't intend ot see episoede 2 or, should Lucas ever display the poor taste to produce it, episode three.
Episode 4, 5 and 6 were rehashes of every "war movie" ever shot but with fancy "future tech" weapons. Cute at the time but I've grown up in the intervening decades.
The cartoon which purported to be episodes 7, 8 and 9 of the neptology were trite and boring.
Face it guys... It was never anything more than a children's story. My interest ran out by the time it made it to network TV, never mind video releases. Its over.
Thank the Heavens.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
When asked about shutting down the websites George Lucas commented, "I don't want anything to give the end of the movie away before the soundtrack does."
So far I've gotten all my Karma from telling people they are wrong... :)
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$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Bang! I hate to be a stupid 'me too-er' , but that post was brilliant. You hit the nail square on the head.
Or is it possible that LucasFilm is trying a disinformation campaign? Think about it: A copies of the script was purloined. Considering that Lucas has enough money to buy armed security guards for the set sites and the people sign mega-NDA's, this is a little far-fetched. What if the purloined script is a pseudo-script? I mean, the "Episode II Trailer" was a fake, so why couldn't this be as well? The Simpsons made several endings to the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" cliffhanger a few years ago to keep even the people working the show somewhat in the dark. A great line to keep in mind when it comes to information such as this: "Information easily obtained is easily false. In time of war, a steel worker would not know about the tactical abilities of a secret airbase, nor would a double agent in the armed forces know much about public morale."
I used to be someone else. Now I'm someone better.
Real life is underrated.
Just disable the comments and run a fucking script. It all comes out the same.
It's understandable that they would want leaked storyboard images off the net since it is there property and all. What bother's me is the jump-down-your-throat 'request' (DEMAND) that it be removed. The approach they're taking only makes Lucas look like a greedy bastard.
If I were bringing my vision to life, I would not want to have it ruined by some unauthorized sites on the web. This is his baby, he can run the show any way he wants it....
Bryan R.
Bryan R.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, or $12.50 as seen on eBay.....
The reason he's doing this is probably because his new merchandising juggernaut, Episode II, won't live up to all the expectations and hopes churned up by the fan rumor mill. Just like Episode I. He wants to keep our expectations down to reasonable levels. The question is.. why won't it live up to our expectations?
Think about it. Lucas had a great idea; take a classic fantasy plot, and stick it in a high-technology world. Once he saw the green rolling in, though, any thought of "art" went out the window, and became "How can I change this to make more money?" The result? Compare the Empire Strikes Back to Return of the Jedi and Episode I.
ESB is not cute. Look at some of the scenes in that movie. We have the Imperial AT-AT walkers. We have the asteroid scene. We have the escape-from-the-big-space-slug scene. The introduction of the Super Star-Destroyer, holograms, Vader becoming even MORE evil, brilliant light-saber battles.. I could go on and on, but I already have.
Then we have Return of the Jedi. Yes, there were some very cool scenes, but... Endor was originally supposed to be populated by Wookies like Chewbacca. Lucas, being a man of some intelligence, realized that something cute and fluffy would sell better, so he cut 'em in half and called them Ewoks. The result? A sequence of bizarre, Jar-Jaresque scenes of teddy bears overrunning trained Imperial troops in full body armor. Ok.
If I had a point in this rant, it's that Lucas has completely lost sight of the Star Wars "concept". Midichlorians, Jar-Jar's cartoonish escapes from tight jams... This is a live-action cartoon. I want the REAL Star Wars back.
End of lesson. You may press the button.
Well, it would REALLY spoil the surprise (and maybe even stop people seeing the film) if it was known that in part 2, Jar-Jar goes into Jedi training.
"Meesa no try! Meesa do!"
when someone asked him about another scifi movie he replied "it didn't make much money". Why do you think he won't put phantom menace on dvd? After all 3 movies he can make a special over priced box set and charge more. Personally I can't wait for the lord of the rings trilogy coming in december 2001.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
One other thing about George Lucas... everyone loves to say how rich he is, but Andrew Lloyd Webber makes him look like a beggar.
Lucas:LucasFilm::Jack Valenti:[CD label], roughly. Lucas didn't write all the storyboards. If he does own them all, then he's basically ripping off the real writers (that is, if you believe record labels bleed artists dry as well).
Metallica owns their own music. That's why they're suing, not some label. However, in generally, yes, someone else owns the music.
Windows 2000: Designed for the Internet. The Internet: Designed for UNIX.
Nope, it's the money. (Refer to above.)
The DMCA would protect the site unless the copyright holder could show that THAT was their copyrighted work.
That's wherein the litmus test would pass or fail. :)
D
HA! The Hugo is an award for REAL Sci Fi only, not the mealy mouthed, whitebread and twinkie bullshit Mr. Lucas puts out. There are limits to how much a man can bullshit people, (Mr Gates is a good example) and just because one is filthy rich and appealing to the largest part of the flock does NOT entitle one to any awards reserved for quality. Candidate Bush should take note.....
-- Defenestrate Microsoft!
Sounds like he wants to keep the details of the movie extrmely secret to prevent artistic/creative dilution of the work. I think its very typical for an artist to keep his work very concealed until its ready to be presented for this reason. Revealing the work-in-progress just takes away from the impact of the final work.
Nope, try:
Prophesied one comes to rescue Humanity from machine slavery. His Kung Fu is best.
HTH, HAND.
dave
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If I read the script, I'd go anyway, for the experience. And while a movie is rarely as good as the book, the case is entirely different with a script.
Am I alone in thinking that the plot is only a small part of the movie experience? Would most people really choose not to pay their $8.50 if they knew the plot? Is the script that bad? Or is Lucas just being an 'artist' who needs to wait for a grand and celebrated unvailing?
The REAL jabber has the /. user id: 13196
The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
What you do today will cost you a day of your life
If you say so chizput.
I own all of the Star Wars movies and actually watched all four of them again just a couple of weeks ago. Sure, Ep. I wasn't all dark and mysterious, but I sure as hell didn't get insulted by it. In fact, I thought it was pretty good.
I think you have to go out of your way to be cranky to really think that a movie is an actively insulting device. Don't fucking watch it if it pains you that much. Good god, people really like to bitch.
Bite my yammer.
DON'T READ THEM.
I wasn't aware of fan-boys running around, pointing guns to people's heads, forcing them to read ANYTHING...
The REAL jabber has the /. user id: 13196
The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
What you do today will cost you a day of your life
I think you are referring more to how difficult it is to explain the plot holes in the Matrix, as opposed to how long it takes to tell someone that SW Ep2 is filler between Ep1 and the original Star Wars, designed mostly to help move the warehouses full of Jar-Jar Binks junk Lucas still has laying around.
I do not have a signature
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Why does he need to spread disinformation when the disinformation spreads itself? The storyboards are most likely fake and probably the work of some lonely fan. Yet look at how the fanboys jumped on it...
Phallic Symbols in LOTR
I went to SW I(x1), IV(x3), V(x3), VI(x3) in the cinema but have otherwise only given (directly or indirectly to the best of my knowledge) George Lucas a percentage on less than $3 which I spent on an R2D2 watch/keyring in a discount shop. I will go to EP II and III just to see the story completed (my only visit to a cinema in the last year was from a 'present' on my birthday where a group took me to get drunk watching Scary Movie), but I still will not buy videos, DVDs or any other merchandising because the entire creation has been destroyed for greed. If he ever makes it to EP VII - IX, it will be on the strength or weakness of EP I-III that I will decide if I will bother to see it, and right now there is no chance.
My only prayer is that as with the first (production order) trilogy this trilogy may slump into a far more evocative and realistic ambiance in the second film......and considering the state of the Universe to come in EP IV it might just stay there for EP III. Something makes me think that somehow the prequels to EP IV are all going to be smiley-happy-kiddy films though, and the misery of EP V is going to look very out of place when this generation of new Star Wars fans see it.
Never underestimate the dark side of the Source
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Hell, their is every possibility that the storyboards were totally fake to begin with, and this is all a disinformation campaign.
Anyone else here remember Return of the Jedi being 'leadked' and later marketed briefly as "Revenge of the Jedi"? I even have a copy of the trailer for the movie under that name somewhere...
And, from what I remember, this happened with the other Star Wars movies as well...So don't let yourselves believe that this means the storyboards were real. They likely weren't.
The reason the Star Wars films aren't out on DVD is because the attempts at mastering didn't look good enough to him. The reason he hasn't said that lately is because the sponsors of the DVD format didn't want their format killed by directors saying it didn't look good compared to laserdiscs.
Lackey: Bad news, Darth Lucas, the url's of the fan sites were not on the Princess.
Darth Lucas: And you've searched her thoroughly? What about the webmaster?
L: I'm afraid he died before we could ask him.
Darth Lucas makes a grasping movement with his hands.
L:: Acckkkkkkk
DL: Lackey number 2 you are in command. Play a course to the Princess' homepage site.
I agree man, Episode I was annoying as hell. He made it so little kids would understand it, which was how old I was when I was originally watching the first trilogy, so I can't complain about that really. BUT, that computer-based-pain-in-the-ass alien makes me not want to see the next one... Not to mention, I have a DVD player, and would love to buy all the star wars movies, except episode I, on DVD before I'm 50.
UBU
Your strokes might be better than those of the copy, your colors might be a bit richer and brighter, but the value of your painting would be diminished by the fact that its novelty value had already been compromised.
What is the value of a book, when someone puts out the last three pages of an as yet unpublished novel? Though everyone may not go and visit the site to see the ending, the cat is already out of the bag and word of mouth will do its work.
The point is that the comments on Slashdot about Lucas being rich and greedy are beside the point. He may be rich and greedy, but he also has a right to protect his intellectual work. You can't Open Source everything, and even if you could, there are some people who want to maintain control over their artistic and intellectual property, which is THEIR CHOICE.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
I would say it's just backlash for the years that fans have treated people like Lucas as the enemy. Fans are the most ungrateful, vicious, backbiting, critical, unforgiving people in the world, and will not hesitate to turn their never-ending venom on the entertainers they supposedly enjoy. The Internet makes this especially easy. You only have to read the rest of the comments in this forum to know this is true.
We bitch about Lucas and all the CGI. We bitch about Lucas and his greed. We bitch about Lucas because he has a monopoly on desktop operation systems (er... got carried away there).
But how many of us are willing to back up our bitching? My nickel says the overwhelming majority of the readers here will rant and rave and complain and moderate and make jokes about Jar Jar, and then will jump down off the soapbox and fork over the $7.50 to see Episode II anyway. Or we'll call ourselves nonconformists, skip the movies, and later rent it (just to see how bad it is, wink wink).
Is this flamebait? I guess. But I think it's important that as we all get our panties in a bunch in our forum about this thing or that thing, we admit that rhetoric without action is of limited impact to Lucas, Microsoft, Congress, Metallica, etc.
PDHoss
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Writers get in shape by pumping irony.
When the original trilogy came out, the technological capacity to upload the entire script and / or storyboards to the World Wide Web didn't exist. If someone did get a hold of such materials, they might publish in some tiny fanzine, enough to reach a couple hundred or maybe a thousand people. Not millions. Nuff said.
Exclusive clips from upcoming Star Wars EP2 scripts:
ObiWan: This is a Lightsabre©, the weapon of choice of a Jedi© warrior
Anakin: It looks like an old Eveready flashlight.
ObiWan: Uh, well, we had a budget..
Anakin (pressing ON button): *click* FNNZZWWOON
ObiWan: Uh, please turn it back off
Anakin: Wow, this is cool!
ObiWan: You are a very bad student and I can't seem to control you
Anakin: Hey! There are no bad students, only bad teachers!
ObiWan: Look out!
Anakin (accidently slicing his hand off with the lightsabre): AAAAAAGGHHH!!!
ObiWan: I'm afraid I'll have to flunk you, Anakin, Yoda was right.
Anakin: You suck, I'll get even with you some day!
From EP3:
Imperial Storm Trooper: Does this make me look fat?
Oops... Now George will want this expunged. Sorry...
--
Chief Frog Inspector
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Using rumor to build anticipation?
Probably the let down that occurs afterwards. Pehaps he fears that many of the story lines are going to be better then the actual one?
Difference being that it would take more than 5 seconds to reveal the plot of The Matrix
Time in
Computers have taken over the earth creating a virual reality for all humans, which they use as batteries. Hero wrests control of said reality from computers. The End.
Time out
Ok, how long did it take you to read that? Less than 5 seconds, I'm guessing.
Sincere apologies if I've spoiled the movie for anyone.
Maybe you should go see The Empire Strikes Back again and rethink your post.
I could sit and watch that again and enjoy it, even though I'm now old enough to have children of my own. Yes, it's space opera, which makes it somewhat juvenile in a way, but it was much darker and more adult in the treatment of its themes.
Consider the ending: how many kiddie movies have you seen that end with a lead character frozen in metal, with an agonized look on his face, and shipped off as a trophy to a slave lord?
Compare that to episode one, which was about as engaging and realistic as a Teletubbies video.
There's a big difference between making a movie that is entertaining to children and making a movie that actively insults their intelligence. The first two Star Wars were examples of the former, while the last two were examples of the latter.
Noooo! Leo's so cute :) (but I'm probably not his type :(
Admitedly, though, this would probably be the only source of a satisfying Jar Jar Bink death scene...
;). I'd LOVE to see that ;)!!!! Long live the Power of the Source!
Exsqueeeze me! That is just totally halarious
If the story board would end up on the web, even if only remotelly accurate, it would spill the beans and spoil the movie.
Once I read a book, and then they made a movie out of the book, and even though I knew what the story was, I went to see the movie anyway.
Am I dumb or what?
>>I'd rather see a new B5-verse movie anyway..
Is there anything planned there?
If you want to e-mail me, use my PGP Key.
So, if Lucas releases a DVD in "2050 or so" because he wants to wait and put out the Super Ultra Deluxe More Features Than You Need Edition, you bitch. George Lucas, greedy bastard. But if he were to release a cheapjack DVD NOW and the Super Ultra Deluxe More Features Than You Need Edition in 2050 then you'll bitch about that too. George Lucas, greedy bastard. If Lucas were all about bleeding people dry, he'd release a piece of shit DVD now and sock you again a couple years down the line. But that doesn't matter, because George Lucas will never be anything other than pure evil no matter which way he goes, right?
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YODA: Run! Yes. A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of
the dark side. Anger...fear...aggression. The dark side of the Force
are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you
start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny,
consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice.
LUKE: Vader. Is the dark side stronger?
YODA: No...no...no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.
LUKE: But how am I to know the good side from the bad?
YODA: You will know. When you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses
the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.
-------------------------------------------------
I think that says it all...
No only if Lucas would use his own philosophy.
That's good, but there aren't any pictures. Is there a specific filename I can search for on Gnutella/Freenet/Scour?
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"A witty saying proves nothing" - Voltaire
Not really, because I won't be buying any of it. There were plenty of better things to be spending my money on than Episode 1, and I'm sure Episode 2 won't be any better.
And besides, you're missing the point. There'll be video versions before then, just not the DVD versions. That way, people can buy it on video and then buy it on DVD later, making Lucas twice as much money. And I'm sure there'll be "Director's cuts", "Remastered versions", "THX special versions" and all that shite too.
give me a break. nice way to embrace fans... must have gone to the metallica school of PR. we should expect as much from someone who won't release on dvd either. one less movie i'll have to sleep thru
It says Anonymous Coward, but I'm pretty sure the poster is that Gerbil bein' used for bait on joecartoon.com
SDMI: Finally! Music that won't rip or burn! Brought to you by the fine folks at RIAA.
Well, considering that most of the TNG cast have begged off of doing another movie, the pathetic final episode of DS9 killed off any movie hopes, and VOY isn't over yet...it doesn't look too promising, unless they were to launch their next ST:??? franchise with a movie (a Good Idea, IMHO.)
Stating on Slashdot that I like cheese since 1997.
The bizarre decision to include child versions of all of the original characters is what bothers me. In case you haven't heard, Boba Fett is apparently going to be in Episode 2 - as a child (that kid you see in the supposed storyboards is supposed to be little Boba).
Most of these characters were clearly supposed to be meeting for the first time in the original trilogy. C3PO, when he crash landed on tatooine gave no indication he had ever been there before... even though it turns out now that's his 'birthplace.'
All this makes the new films feel like a cheap spinoff of the original films, instead of an expanded look into the SW universe. Are we going to see a young Han Solo in this one? Lando as a toddler? A tadpole version of that little frog that Jabba ate in ROTJ?
Phallic Symbols in LOTR
Everyone's a critic. Only now they have stopwatches. :)
the reason empire was good http://www.salon.com/ent/col/srag/1999/05/13/kersh ner/index.html
I think that George needs to pull the light saber out of his ass, and leave the fans alone. it's not like he is losing money over these two web sites.
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't he film the first (episode 4, a new hope) movie in secrecy? I don't really have a point to this, but I felt like saying it. Second, remember the simpsons episode with the radioactive man movie? alt.nerd.movie.obcessive
--Have a Johsonville brat.
Well you said yourself it was an unrelated story.
come for the naked robots, stay for the zombies
Whether he is greedy, or not greedy, has nothign to do with his choice. He was very secretative with the first Triology. He was also involved in Battlestar Galactica at the time doing special effects. He ended up taking them to court because he thought it would interfer with his creations, but he lost. He has always been protective of the movies. They are his brain child, and has said only he can do the movies.
Given his protectiveness of the movies, it is understandable if he orders sites to close down because the are spreading false infornmation. I would do the same thing in his situation if I started getting email complaining about story lines that were false.
Regaurding the dvd, I think he is just waiting to see what happens in the dvd market. I am sure he knows the monopoly hold the encryption guys hold on the dvd encryption. I think he is just waiting for things to level out, and possibly hoping the the monopoly on the dvd encryption will topple. That is just my speculation. Let's face it, not everybody has a dvd playe, and with the battle going on about DeCSS, I don't blame him for holding off.
At the next eco-hypocrisy-meeting, count the private jets used to get to the meeting. Should be interesting to see that
These storyboards *belong* to Lucas. It is his right and will to publish or not publish them, especially as he owns the copyright and distribution.
It's different than the Lars/MP3/Metallica thing, because he really does own the rights, and not some corporation or distributor.
No one has the right to take his work and use it in ways he does not allow. In an analogous way to say, the GPL. If we allow *anyone* to infringe on Lucas's rights to his works, why would not anyone infringe on the Open Source's rights to their software/source? Why shouldn't NVIDIA include Open Source stuff in their drivers?
It's his. He owns it. He writes it. He makes it. He sells it. He produces it. He makes the special effects for it.
About the only thing worth complaining about is the quality of the movies!
The nick is a joke! Really!
GPL Deconstructed
Let me spell it out:
Having said that. More power to Lucas! It's a free market economy you whiny bitches. If you don't like it, don't put money in his pockets. Sneak into theatres, rent the tapes and return them claiming they're broken, hijack transport trucks, whatever...
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Perhaps these people were running profit-making sites?
No matter how much you complain, you simply can't be a real Star Wars fan without seeing the whole thing, for good or ill.
/. boycotted the movie, who would notice? Our absence would be lost in the noise of the whole country pouring in to see the movie, simply because so many did not love 4,5, and 6 enough to truly hate much of #1.
As the other poster said though, there is no way I'm going opening day (or weekend) this time. Probably bringing down the opening weekend receipts is the only real impact it's possible to have. I fully admit that rhetoric without action is useless (which is why I recently sent real, physical letters to congress and the house supporting the music database bill), but I also know that there are some battles you cannot win and it does no good to try. Even if everyone reading
Unless you are close enough to Lucas to tell him you aren't going and why, a boycott is useless.
The other side of the problem with a boycott is that even if you convinced the WHOLE COUNTRY to not see the movie ever, it would not matter at all - Lucas would go ahead and just make the third one however he wanted to anyway. In fact if you make him mad enough he's likley to add in Ewoks again just to spite us.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
At least no one has put up any storyboards yet for "Howard The Duck Episode II: The Phantom Boxoffice" - hate to have THAT get spoiled.
"So many ways to skin a cat, and still everyone uses a great big knife."
Perhaps Lucas thinks the fans are already revolting.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Companies do not have the legal power to 'order' people to do things. Only the courts do.
No, they have his storyboards.
/. complain bitterly when NVIDIA included Open Source material in some of their driver software? What's the difference between someone misusing Lucas's storyboards, and NVIDIA misusing someone else's source?
It's the *sourcecode*, as it were. It's what makes his movie possible.
Didn't
The nick is a joke! Really!
GPL Deconstructed
Spiral! You were supposed to tell me how points were being awarded. I thought I was supposed to try to get the most posts to +5, not the most positive mod values!!! Yeeesh...
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I wouldn't know, actually.
I haven't seen the storyboards.
I've only seen the letters, and they only talk about stuff like infringing on Lucas's copyrights.:
Dear Sirs:
Lucasfilm Ltd. and its affiliated and related entities (collectively "Lucasfilm")
are the sole and exclusive owners of all rights in the major motion pictures
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode
I--The Phantom Menace, and the forthcoming feature film Star Wars: Episode
II (collectively the "Star Wars Films"). Those motion pictures and the
characters which appear therein are protected by the copyright and
trademark laws of the United States and other nations. It has come to our
attention that you have posted images, story lines, descriptions, and other
material relating to story boards from the production of Star Wars: Episode II
on your World Wide Web site at www.aldera.net and related pages. Pursuant
to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), other federal and state
copyright laws, trademark law, and other statutes, you are hereby notified
that your actions constitute infringement of Lucasfilm's rights. You may also
be in possession of stolen property of Lucasfilm.
We demand that you remove all of the items described above that are
accessible on or through your system or network, accessed by users through
your system or network, or located using your information location tools; and
disable access to any sites fulfilling these criteria. We further demand that
you immediately turn over any Lucasfilm property in your possession to us
and provide us with information regarding the source of the materials. You
must provide written assurance that you will comply with this demand
immediately.
Lucasfilm is the exclusive owner of all relevant rights in and to the Star Wars
Films. Pursuant to the DMCA, we have a good faith belief that any items
falling into the categories identified above infringe Lucasfilm's copyrights and
other intellectual property rights, and are not authorized by Lucasfilm or its
agents. I am authorized to act on Lucasfilm's behalf regarding these matters.
The information provided in this communication is accurate to the best of my
knowledge and is provided under penalty of perjury.
Sincerely,
David J. Anderman
Associate Director of Business Affairs
DJA/lm
The nick is a joke! Really!
GPL Deconstructed
If it has the Star Wars logos, any Star Wars characters, props, emblems, images, or animals...
It's copyrighted to George Lucas. Period. Rancors, light sabers, Jedi Knights, Mandalorian armor, Force tricks, battle droids, etc.
If there is any mention of anything Star Wars, he can prolly get it yanked. Without verification that it is or is not a real storyboard.
The nick is a joke! Really!
GPL Deconstructed
A trade secret cannot be protected once it's no longer secret.
But something copyrighted is always copyrighted (unless the owner fails to protect it), so Lucas, regardless of source, can go after *his* property, if someone else uses it or publishes it.
It's still an IP thing, but for now the law is on his side.
If you use your argument, that once the information is out, that free speech takes over...
All music, movies, books, etc, become 'public' property the minute they are released, because they have been 'leaked'. How is a storyboard being posted technologically different than an mp3 or a mpeg of Episode 1? IP rights mean all three are illegal.
The nick is a joke! Really!
GPL Deconstructed
Whoever made this 'offtopic needs to re-read the last several lines of the post. Then read the rest of the posts that this also relates too. Man this is the first time posting and the moderates show their wonderful sense of un-intelligence.
I don't blame Lucas for wanting to make money, but this is just another example of how much of an irrational control freak Lucas is. If you don't think so, consider this parallel example:
--A band informs the public that their next album will only be released on standard vinyl records -- a cassette version will be released 3 years later when ready and a CD version 3 years after that.
--The same band finds out that several websites have detailed descriptions of songs on the same upcoming album; there are also rumors of stolen copies of the lyrics floating around. They threaten to sue the crap out of the websites if they don't remove the material.
Doesn't this sound absolutely ridiculous? Nobody (in their right mind) would just accept crap like this from any band, so why do Lucas worshippers take it from Lucas??? I'm an ex-Lucas fan and I'm not buying this crap from him any more...
In the same way Highlander II destroyed the whole film series for me, Episode I has put me off off any new Episodes. I will only go see E2/E3 if they involve the slow, painful, delicious torture of Jar Jar and the genocide of his race, one gungan at a time..
I'd rather see a new B5-verse movie anyway..
Your Working Boy,
Whoa! "This sucka's mine!"
-- He's fantastic, made of plastic....
There's hardly a single major motion picture put out today that doesn't have both a video and a DVD version. And there are "director's cuts" of movies much less popular and succesful than Star Wars (Highlander, anyone?) Having a video and DVD version of a movie released doesn't set Lucas apart in any way, shape or form. And anyone who runs out and buys both versions has no one but themselves to blame.
"Horns" leaked what appears to be a very real picture board of EPII to Naboonline who said "due to the fact that we do not want to get into trouble with Lucasfilm, we have decided to not post those images".
http://www.naboonline.com/new s/i ndex.shtml#9701203 is an apology from Naboonline.com to LucasFilm and includes the original letter received from LucasFilm, or more precisely David J. Anderman, Associate Director of Business Affairs, from:netenforcement@lucasfilm.com and then they subsequently state their position as
A few choice snippets of the LucasFilm letter include.
so it is for copyright and trademark reasons The good old DMCA comes in along with anything else the lawyers can think to say.....what a surprise. Oh Yeah? You can demand but don't tell people that they must do things unless you are a court. IANAL but I thought it was as simple as that. Could this be harrassment? Also kind-of big demands to drop all links to all sites that have anything still up even if you are linking to something else or just the homepage.It concluded with a nice "Persuant to DMCA...infringe Lucasfilm's copyrights and other intellectual property rights...penalty of perjury". Do they have a form letter for this sh*t? And if the site was based outside DMCA zone (e.g. Europe) would they be able to ignore this?
If a tabloid newspaper published this stuff would they get away with it? I'd have thought so! What is the difference here?
There's only one problem.....See the parent post :-)
Never underestimate the dark side of the Source
The trend these days seems to treat your fans as your enemies.
/. attitude.
There's another silly unresearched comment inspired by the general
Lucas' baby has actually ran contests for the best fan sites and regularely features one of them on his site.
You people just keep on freakin' out when due red tape is applied.
And, if that isn't enough, fans can actually have their fan site hosted by Luca's!
(There goes more Karma)
For a less closed approach to the filmmaking process, check out The Claim. The official site has screenplay excerpts, daily call sheets, quicktime tours of the set, and lots of random progress reports. (Like, the edit is currently taking up 198G of hard disk space, and the current cut is 112 minutes long....)
- Pursuant to the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act ("DMCA"), other federal and state copyright laws, trademark
law, and other statutes, you are hereby notified that your actions
constitute infringement of Lucasfilm's rights.
Of all the...for Pete's...well don't that beat...(pauses for breath)...DMCA, I CURSE YOU!!...(snip)...
Pursuant to the DMCA, we have a good faith belief that any items falling into the categories identified above infringe Lucasfilm's copyrights and other intellectual property rights, and are not authorized by Lucasfilm or its agents. I am authorized to act on Lucasfilm's behalf regarding these matters. The information provided in this communication is accurate to the best of my knowledge and is provided under penalty of perjury. Sincerely,
David J. Anderman Associate Director of Business Affairs
DJA/lm
from:netenforcement@lucasfilm.com
[pink beam of light]
Difference being that it would take more than 5 seconds to reveal the plot of The Matrix, whereas the entire story of SW episode two will probably fit on the back of the postage stamp that episode one was written on.
Wow, if you meant that as pun, bravo. +1 Very Clever.
= -=-=-=-=-=-=-
On the otherhand if you were making some clusless observation and only now get the double meaning...never mind.
- JoeShmoe
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
If you get flamed and mod will be because you're partially right, at least. All Lucas cares about is himself; all those years of ILM doing other people's visual efects was just so that he could have The Best(TM) when he finally got back to his pet project. What was his attitude when Episode I didn't do so good? He didn't care; hell, the movie was for him, by him and his hired staff. I actually respect that, but I think you're right :^)
Stating on Slashdot that I like cheese since 1997.
I think Lucas has been taking lessons from the IOC. :P
Or maybe he's afraid the pre-hype will create a huge black hole to suck down any possible goodness the movie had.
It happened last time. EP I was a decent movie if it hadn't been hyped up so completely by the time it was released. If they would have just released it with very little fanfare it would have still drawn crowds. And then there wouldn't be all these people saying, "I don't like $newcharacter because he acts stupid. Why didn't $storyline_device do $chosen_plot instead...?"
I can understand Lucas not wanting the hype to get out of control this time. People got so damn riled up over the last movie because it 'didn't live up to the hype'. No movie could. Maybe he's not going to let the hype exist this time.
Bite my yammer.
They're both whiny, arrogant bastards; that seems to be the only other connection. Oddly enough, though, the big difference is that Mr. Ulrich seems to be in possession of a functioning brain stem.
Stating on Slashdot that I like cheese since 1997.
You do realize that the original films pandered to 10 year-old children as well don't you?
Or have you somehow convinced yourself in the 25 years since then that you parents went to the originals for themselves and just took you along as an afterthought?
Bite my yammer.
Personally, I think it's pretty easy at this point to guess at the story line and get it right, at least as far as Anakin is concerned.
After Qui-Gonn Jinn was struck down by Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi wins a battle with Darth Maul...by giving in to his anger. He's tainted by his use of dark-side power. Palpatine will attempt to turn Obi-Wan; he will succeed instead with Anakin, who is being trained by Obi-Wan. Anakin's late start in life in training, combined with Obi-Wan's taint, will ultimately doom Anakin and the rest of the Galaxy. The End.
Stating on Slashdot that I like cheese since 1997.
Interestingly enough, George will also have to go after sites that have incorrect info. If not, you'll be able to piece together elements of the picture fromthe things that are not under attack!
Envy my 5 digit Slashdot User ID!
What happened to enjoying speculation? Using rumor to build anticipation? Liking the attention?
By the time this movie comes out, I won't care at all. Rumor, speculation, things like this keep me interested.
No $8.00 from me this time, Mr. Lucas. Learn to respect the fans a bit.
-- IANAEG - I am not an elder god.
These scare tactics that Apple and Lucasfilm are pulling lately is a bunch of crap. They can't face the fact that what they are doing is tarnishing their reputations while stopping the free speech of those websites who post RUMORS, that's all that they are! Boycot Episode 2, because it'll prolly be a peice of shit anyways.
-motardo
I can't quite get my head around George Lucas' problem with free advertising. He'll millions on post production to create the worst character of all time (read Jar-Jar) but a website helps build hype for his movie and this is offensive?
____________ Do or Do not there is no Try.
Do or do not. There is no, "try".
Free music from Jack Merlot.
Sounds a bit like the Apple Cube story. Maybe the storyboards were a little too close to the real thing...
What is next? An automatic $50 billion tax at birth to cover the license fee of every possible copyrighted name we might speak for the duration of our lives? George Lucas continually alienates his fans. Just a short while ago, he tried to induce all the StarWars fanfic authors to get homepages at starwars.com. Sounds good, right? Well, you can bet that Mr. Lucas had an ulterior motive. Anything put on a starwars.com page would be automatically copyrighted and owned by him. So, if a fanfic author spent months crafting a really great story, Lucas could use it and not even have to acknowledge that he did not write it himself. This move irked a lot of people, myself included. We write fanfics for fun; not fame or fortune. And all we ask is to be sited for the particulars we write. At least Square is kind enough to allow my partner and myself to write and publish our works online for free without free of reprisial. Heck; Square loves Bleys and I...there is not a day that goes by that I don't get pleasant email about my fanfics. Lucas has gone too far. I'm not planning on seeing his next movie, and I would hope to God that others would boycott it as well. The money grubbers in America really need to take stock. They are continually alienating and irritating the very fan base that gives them their money, power, and fame. Metallica would be nothing without its fans, and Star Wars would be just another late 70s early 80s series of Grade B movies without its fans. How easily Metallica and Lucas forget the very people that put them where they are today. I know that I feel very cheated and very used. Any others? How dare these pitiful, untalented, greedy, insolent fools think that they can continually abuse us, their fans, their supporters, and expect that we will come back like dogs to lick their boots and eat the rotting scraps from their tables! Phoenix Support Fanfic on the 'Net: http://fanfiction.notwise.net and www.fanfiction.net
Must be the new math as, I'm pretty certain EpII will be released in the Star Wars tradition in May. So, let's see... May 2002 - September 2000 = well, I'll let you figure it out.
Love, Andy
Blah, I'm disappointed this got a mod up. It's such an obvious stretch. I mean, is there any tenable connection between Leo and Lars (well, besides the fact that they both start with "L")?
= -=-=-=-=-=-=-
A better line would have been - in other news George Lucas decided to add some soundtrack elements from Metallica. On being brought on, Lars had this to say: "Totally sweet! But if I find any fan site posting suggestions for song lyrics I'll kick their ass!"
But that's just my two cents worth...better luck next time.
- JoeShmoe
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
I personnaly don't want to hear anything about starwars right now. I don't think i could handle the anticipation for two years.
Now on to the ramifications of blocking fan sites like these. I didn't get mad at Apple for going after their rumor sites. They had a point about using their pictures, which shouldn't be allowed. This bothers me a little but still not that much. I don't think you should be allowed to post anything you want on the web. There has to be boundaries and if you don't ask permission to use informantion and/or data then that is wrong.
It was the former, though it was hard to write without making it too obvious. If I'd have said "...pretty revolting already" that's not terribly subtle, so I just had to hope for the best.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
It's my opinion and that's all there is to it. Go ahead, flame me, mod me down, whatever...
As opposed to fact? Anyway, the last sentence is a waste. You *will* get modded down if your comment sucks in the opinion of the moderator. Are you trying to avoid that by stating that the moderator is free to do so??
Just curious why so many posts say "feel free to mod me down"... it isn't your permission that we need.
This post brought to you by your friendly neighborhood MBA.
Corporations: big, evil, don't care about the people who buy their products
Science-fiction scriptwriters: playful, conscientious, like to play along with geeks
George Lucas:? ... Isn't he basically a corporation at this point? Why do we still go to his movies, then shoot other corporations down?
- I don't care if they globalize against free speech. All my best free thoughts are done in my head.
GL: These aren't the fan sites we're looking for.
FS: We can go about our business.
GL: You can go about your business.
FS: Move along.
GL: Move along.
Well, I agree with you in that, IMO, Ep1 sucked major ass, I do seem to remember being about 10 years old when the original Star Wars was released. I liked it then, and I still like it now, but I can't help wondering if I would like it today if I was 30 years old when it originally came out.
Can't say I agree with you about the CGI aliens - I think they're much better than the freaking rubber masks and muppets used in the original trilogy!
Sean
Some of them are HERE.
It's nothing to get too worked up about. I think they're fakes anyway... which makes it fit right in with the rest of my site.
Phallic Symbols in LOTR
I knew I shouldn't have skipped those first ten grades of public school...
Phallic Symbols in LOTR
I/P == intellectual property. fisfhcuierk. (you knew it.)
IF the material is authentic, copyrighted material owned by Lucasfilm and posted without permission, they are well within their rights to demand removal. Even if it isn't real, but features their copyrighted characters, they are within their rights.
I've never understood why fans feel they have some rights of ownership. You may have supported and promoted something, but that does not make it your intellectual property.
Does George have some responsibility to the fans who have made him rich? Ethically and morally, quite probably. Legally, not at all. May this hurt them? Sure. But biting the hand that feeds you always does.
http://drteknikal.blogspot.com/
Of all of the people in the film industry I can't honestly think of one that has time and time again shown themselves to be only interested in the sheer amount of $$$ they can gouge from loyal fans.
First it was the incredible array of editions and boxed sets released for the original trilogy, then it was the fact that DVDs for the new trilogy were only going to be released in 2050 or some other point in the distant future, and now he's attacking fan sites who are catering to the interests of the very fans he makes his wads of cash from!
Seriously, George Lucas has done nothing since the original trilogy worth bothering with. Despite all of the anticipation felt by die-hard Star Wars fans in the buildup to the new movies, he disappointed them all by pandering to 10 year-old children with his movie and its slushy plot, cardboard characters and fucking annoying CGI aliens.
Fuck Geoege Lucas and the piles of cash he rolled in on.
And im sure they pulled the articles without a single argument, hell i wouldnt wanna argue with Darth Vaders boss either. Unless they tried to pass off the information as legitimate (or it was legitimate) i dont believe Darth George has a legal leg to stand on.
Then again IANAL (but you knew that already didnt you?).
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise. -Fight Club
What's the bug up his butt about now? Rumour-spreading is building anticipation. It's a great way of gathering public interest in the film. Even if the real script leaks, so what?? It's just more to look forward to.
The REAL jabber has the /. user id: 13196
The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
What you do today will cost you a day of your life
There is no Enemy, Anywhere.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
What is it that causes brilliant, insightful people to eventually become big, dumb, greedy, superficial fools? George Lucas was a visionary. He produced three movies in his youth that shook the very bones of the movie world. Instant classics. Is it just astronomical ammounts of money that turn people into assholes or is there something else here? Come on George! Let your fans be fans! (And MAKE Episode 2 NOT suck, okay?!)
He has a right to have libelous or slanderous information removed. I seriously doubt that inaccurate guesses about film story lines would fall into this category. He certainly has a right to refute the information on his own web site or other publications, however, and he can ask that they be removed. (He can even threaten lawsuits, which may work in many cases even if the lawsuit
is groundless.)
Obviously the ISP knew better since they refused to close down the site without a court order.
...the ghosts of John Ford, Akira Kurosawa, and Jack Kirby have all filed charges of intellectual property theft against the vast Lucas empire... Lucas was reading a 1974 copy of Howard Chaykin's "Cody Starbuck" and was unavailable for comment...
Never underestimate the dark side of the Source
Just curious why so many posts say "feel free to mod me down"... it isn't your permission that we need.
Like George Lucas, we are rather proud of our opinions, and don't give a rat's rear end what you think of them.
Oh, to be in George's shoes... wealthy enough to make life miserable for you peons!
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
Star Wars seems to be fresh on everyone's mind, but what ever happened to all the trekkers, or is it trekkies? Anyway, any news on upcoming trek movies? We need a Star Trek category on /. Sorry about the off topicness of this post.
A lil' friday evening humor before you all go drinking/hanging out/whatever you're up to tonight:
Star Wars Gangster Rap
-----------
end communication
If only I'd known about the plot, I for one would never have subjected myself to the agony that is this movie.
--
Change is inevitable.
Change is inevitable.
Progress is not.
Only if you go look at the storyboard. Generally, if I don't want to know what is going to happen in a movie -- I don't read the spoilers!
However, some fans like to know. And I think Lucas is in serious danger of offending his major fan base.
Rani
But that's part of modern geek culture. We read the whole damn script, what leeked sniplets, flame the whole movie in the weeks before the opening... then, on opening day, we wear our Jedi t-shirts, get our 20 year old lightsabers, make Darth Vader like noises and go to the local cineplex to watch a movie we already know from start to finish like it's brand new and full of mystery.
We'll all watch it at least once - if someone likes it they'll watch it twice and if someone REALLY likes it, they'll watch it 3 times or more.
And besides, you can't really blast it if you haven't watched it - better watch hating and continue to hate it later than to not know why people hate it so much. Come on, you can't HATE Jar Jar just by reading about him - you have to watch to feel it.
BTW, that was not flamebait.
All browsers' default homepage should read: Don't Panic...
Fuck Geoege Lucas and the piles of cash he rolled in on.
Ok, Taco, your cover's been blown. Don't you have a server you're supposed to be rebuilding or something?
George Lucas has decided to release Leonardo DiCaprio from his role as Anakin, and has brought on Metallica's Lars Ulrich. On being brought on, Lars had this to say; "This is fucking sweet shit man! I get to hit people with my flashlight!"
öööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööö
How Jaded Are You?
If the real storyline in any way resembles the fake ones on the site, he could have been sued for not given credit (remember the Spielberg movie, Amistad a couple of years back. He got sued even though the movie was based on a historic event, and then we have the Eddie Murphy movie, Back to America (?), Whoopie Goldberg's "Sister Act". Lots of examples).
Je ne parle pas francais.
Grow up people.
If the story board would end up on the web, even if only remotelly accurate, it would spill the beans and spoil the movie.
Worse yet, it could bring a whole slew of cheap knock-offs, making episode 2 a lesser success or surprise. Case to the point: Antz vs Bugs Life.
Or perhaps you'd all want the storyboard open-sourced?
Lesse what kind of movie you can do in your basement, with your big brother's Sony digital camera.
(Admitedly, though, this would probably be the only source of a satisfying Jar Jar Bink death scene...)
How is it wwrong for fansites to publish leaked information. It seems to me that if information leaked, Lucas has no one to go after but the employee who leaked it. Once that information is out I'd think freedom of speech takes over.
I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.