Slashdot Mirror
Lucas Restricts Fan-Made Films To Documentaries, Parodies
garagekubrick writes: "A great piece at the Houston Chronicle discusses how the community of fan made Star Wars films received a boon in December when Lucasfilm loaned their sponsorship to the event, and George Lucas himself would be a judge. Unfortunately, they've limited the contest to parodies and documentaries, thereby shutting out hundreds of entries. As a Lucas rep says, 'if in fact somebody is using our characters to create a story unto itself, that's not in the spirit of what we think fandom is about. Fandom is about celebrating the story the way it is.' Pretty rich coming from the filmmaker who constantly cites greed as being the root of the dark side, and who keeps discussing the liberating values of digital filmmaking. Guess as long as it doesn't hurt his Empire..."
I guess, once again, Lucas proves he just doesnt care about his fans, just his franchise. He has attempted to kill, maim, destroy all types of fan sites and fan fiction based on SW, aka bobafett.com Makes you wonder why he even bothers to deny its about the money, when he finds ways to discourage everything else it could be about.
Part of it could be legal. If he allowed it once, he wouldn't be able to fight true piracy in the courts later on. Kind of like people have to pay to sell a book that takes place in the SW universe. If he allowed royalty free once, it may not stand up in court the next time.
But Lucas is the king of special edition versions. Each of his movies have appeared in so many various special editions and formats that the fans must have paid many times over for each of the movies. The RIAA and MPAA must be envious.
"if in fact somebody is using our characters to create a story unto itself, that's not in the spirit of what we think fandom is about. Fandom is about celebrating the story the way it is."
Remember kids - when you use your *imagination*, only use it to twist your favorite characters, like Big Bird, into ironic circumstances, where they do something you'd never expect of them.
Otherwise, you could be hurting their value as characters.
Have fun kids!
;^)
Ryan Fenton
I think what LucasArts fears most is not that a fan will make a `better' Star Wars -- unlikely, too much resources required -- rather, what they're scared about is the lack of control over what they feel are their trademarks. Sad. This control-freakish attitude costs will cost them viewer in the long run, as Eric Flint pointed out a few stories ago.
According to current law, if Lucasfilms shows the propensity to forgive others using their trademarked material, their ownership of those trademarks would be jeopardized. It would mean anyone could make Star Wars films or merchandise and sell them. Parodies and documentaries are protected as fair use, so Lucasfilms can promote them without threatening their trademark ownership. I don't know of many IP production companies that'll even go that far.
I can live with getting the Phantom Edit in DivX over P2P file sharing programs. Just let me see Troops on the big screen.
Why am I suddenly getting the image of George Lucas and Hilary Rosen on a date, discussing how to completely dominate the entertainment industry and control every possible use of the content they produce, complete with evil laughter, creepy background music, and a slow fade to black, followed by narration setting the scene for a rebellion against an all-powerful enemy? Will there be another Star Wars film contest next year?
Call me crazy, but shouldn't the fans, and not the creators decide what fandom is all about?
Will sports arenas try to throw people out for cheering for the visiting team? Will they decide that it's illegal for me to get a hometeam jersey printed up with my name on the back, instead of an actual player's name, because we should celebrate the game how it actually is, not how we'll enjoy it the best?
It's silly.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
One fan film, Darth Vader: The Rudy Pirany Story, was accepted by the contest after its director, Victor Martin, agreed to edit out scenes in which his protagonist -- an actor with a permanent Darth Vader mask who can't find work after Star Wars -- buys cocaine from Yoda and takes a role in a pornography movie.
;)
Yup, i have a sneaking suspicion that this closely mirrors the Plot of the upcoming Episode 3
Lucas' attitude is the proper one.
Parodies are legally protected speech (subject to a few tweaks, etc.). That's why Spaceballs or Weird Al's "Amish Paradise" don't require the payment of royalties, and don't require the original creator's permission. So all Lucas is doing with regard to parodies is acknowledging that there's nothing he can do about them, and saying that he enjoys watching them and so will assist in their circulation.
Documentaries don't really use copyrighted materials - the story they're telling is not about Luke Skywalker, it's about Lucasfilm (or whomever is the subject of the documentary).
New non-parody works, though (like fanfiction), which utilize the characters to create original fiction, are legally problematic. If Lucas acquiesced in the creation of these, then he would be yielding his copyright into the public domain. This would be a hugely bad idea for him. (Every movie production company would set to work making cheap-ass Star Wars flicks, to start with.) It would mean he was relinquishing his right to royalties from the use of the characters, etc. He would be insane to do this.
Unfortunately, there's not much in the way of middle ground, where he could say "well, fans can make little fanfiction movies, but commercial movie producers can't". IIRC, Mercedes Lackey got into a lot of trouble this way once, trying to turn over a portion of one of her fantasy worlds into the public domain for fans to write fanfiction in -- ended up as a mess.
The best Lucas can do is what he has done here - applaud the parodies and apologetically forbid "Star Wars" fanfiction.
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
Why I hope someone submits the complete Episode I in this contest:
1) It's a great documentary about filmmakers after they lose their talent and get greedy.
2) It'a a terrific parody of the Star Wars series. If a student filmmaker had made this, Jar Jar Binks would have been hysterical, not insulting.
3) The quality of directing was that of a student parody. After all, no one's done those cheesy side-to-side wipe-away scene changes since... well, since Star Wars.
4) The acting was so bad, it was obvious that the actors weren't being paid anything. Not to mention I'm sure Anakin was the casting agent's grandkid or something.
5) You walked out of the theater thinking, "Man, that sucked, but the guy's got potential. Maybe someone will give him a chance someday."
modern choral music...
... lucas owns the right to decide how his characters are used. i can't go out and write a sequel to the "wheel of time" using the same characters without jordan's permission. it's not about being controlling or greedy, it's not wanting a million 'leia and luke as incestual lovers' crap, or 'han and chewie as gay lovers' crap.
personally, i think it's about damn time lucas did this, publicly give permission to do these parodies, etc, which mostly are crap, but a few are quite funny. this helps people understand where the line is drawn, and go forth and create.
-rp
Limit this, limit that; Can't do this, shouldn't do that
Is that the only thing Media Giants know ?
I thank God that the Media Giants weren't present when paper was first being made, or else, the Media Giants will purchase the RIGHTS to make paper, and dictate what people can and cannot do with their baby - paper.
What can we, the people do ?
Why are we tolerating so much nonsense ?
We can't copy songs, we shouldn't do e-books, they say it's all piracy.
What's next ?
We can't utter the word "Coke" or "Mickey Mouse" just because those words are "copyrighted" or "trademarked" ?
Should I say
"I just finished that black, sugarly liquid, which came from a white and red can"
instead of
"I just finished my Coke" ?
That'll be a new dimension of "Political Correctness".
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.
Beyond simple trademark dilution, Lucas puts himself at risk for copyright infringement suits since he is actively producing more movies in the same series. If Lucas sees one of these movies, then he risks the creator of the movie suing him for copyright infringement when he releases Episode 3, a long and possibly quite costly lawsuit. A lawsuit with base and no purpose other than to extort money from Lucas.
Does this happen? Well, I haven't heard of it happening in the movie biz, but most filmmakers are rarely in a position like this. In the music industry it does happen, quite a lot, to the point where one of the first things any professional musician (particularly successfull ones) learns is if someone hands you a demo tape, you hand it right back to them on the spot! It means nothing about the musician's opinion of you, or your music if he or she does this to you - it is simply an important legal defence in this age where you find unscrupulous people who will abuse the courts for their own personal gain, at the expense of others.
Just another situation where our litigous culture and the unscruplous few(?) screw things over for everybody.
C'est la vie.
These guys have obviously never heard of Fan Fiction. I wonder what they'd do if we mentioned lemon fan fics?
Seriously though, some of the best Star Wars videos I've seen have followed these lines. Ever see TROOPS? It was excellent.
I agree that its just one more neon sign flashing "sell-out" to tack onto George Lucas' Motel of Movies. And I'm still going to go see all the rest of the star wars movies, because who can't??. Star Wars is burned into my brain along with Indiana Jones. George Lucas knows he owns us, and there's little we (or at least I) can do about it.
Your
Imagine this
A kid is playing with his StarWar toys.
Using his own imagination, he positions the toy figures, and playacting.
The kid provides dialogue, sound-effects, screenplay, and all the rest.
Suddenly, the front door busts open. An army of armed law enforcement officers come rushing in and take the boy into custody.
The charge ?
The boy has violated George Lucas' copyright / trademark on StarWars' characters.
The End.
You think that can't happen ?
Just wait till congress pass ALL THE LAWS Hollywood wants, and the kids won't be able to play with their imagination anymore.
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
After twenty successful years with those businesses, he tried to make a movie. And it was, unsuprisingly, overproduced crap.
Lucas needs to accept his destiny, which is to be a suit.
Begun this parody has.
And put it at the beginning of the phantom edit.
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
He can't put his backing behind any new Star Wars movies that other people decide to make, because then that would is some way legitimise that story arc into the Star Wars Galaxy. He'd lose control, and it is his creation.
Anyway, these are simply the rules of the competition. It's not like you can't go off and make your own little Star Wars-based video if you like (although you probably can't sell it...)
Oh No! Somebody's done something I don't like! GREED! GREED!
Fandom is about celebrating the story the way it is.
It sounds like Lucas is trying to avoid the fandom menace.
Sometime's I just kill me.
"Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes."
-E. W. Dijkstra
There's a distinction:
When Weird Al is making a parody of a song (like "Amish Paradise"), he doesn't have to pay royalties.
When Weird Al is using a tune to write a song about something else entirely (like "The Saga Begins"), he has to pay royalties and get permissions.
"The Saga Begins" for example isn't a parody of "American Pie", it's a song about Star Wars using the melody from "American Pie". Consequently, he has to pay royalties. Make sense?
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
I'm sure good ol' George is fully aware that there is plenty O' FanFic out there, and he's not looking to stamp that out, he simply doesn't want any of it being entered into this contest because It likely WOULD conflict with the official canon.
And as someone else said, it's about control. It's his property, he can do with it whatever he wants, and obviously he doesn't want to allow any fan created universe fiction into an official function. That might be contruded as him sanctioning the material.
I don't know if any of you have watched the "Making of" videos on the official Star wars site, but in one of them, (Wedgie Em' Out) A stunt Coordinater starts talking a little bit about the droid in Obi Wan's Starfighter.
"The R4 is really an R2 painted Red.."
George interupts him saying "Be careful.. what you say about the R4. Because you'll get bopped on the head real quick."
Then then the next clip shows George mockingly "beating up" the guy.
It was already well known that George is very possessive about Star Wars and related information being released, and as we said, it's his property, he can do with it what he wants.
lucas has the right and should defend his trademark - otherwise he can lose it if it is shown that they are complacent about it. however, I think he is an idiot personally - and I think that he is just bitter about the fact that leo's movie made more money than his
If it be money or trying to stay true to his characters values, its his choice. All you people do is bitch when you don't get your way.
I realize you're mostly just being contrary (though there are worse words for it) - but weren't you ever a child? Did you ever watch or read a story with great characters, then *imagine* what could be? Sometimes amazing childhood tales come from kids sitting with their legos, acting out what a character might do in a given situation. It might not mean that much to you - but the right to freely tell such stories is a cherished act for millions of people. To disallow such public discussion on those topics is to strip people of the right to discuss their earliest explorations into creativity. Yes, older people can be expected to create their own characters - but the young should be highly encouraged to play around with the ideas of characters they like, regardless of who owns them. They should also be free to share these ideas. To do otherwise may very well be to prevent millions of children from growing their imaginations, just so a handful of adults may continue to explore their imaginations for debatably larger ammount of money.
:^)
Ryan Fenton
No he wouldn't. Its trademarks that you have to defend or lose. All Lucas has to do is not sue the film makers in question, but that doesn't mean that Star Wars goes into the public domain.
Yes - you're right. What I meant, and should have said, is that Lucas would be granting an implied license to all fans to use his copyrighted materials in any way they wished. And this would make things very blurry for him legally, down the road.
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
Oh, I'm sure that Gangsta Rap versions, puppet characters, and slapstick comedy are just "celebrating the story the way it is." Parody and satire distort the story -- deliberately - for comic effect. True fan fiction is going to be a lot closer to the real story. But parody cannot be outlawed, so they are stuck with it.
And Lucas has used elements from plenty other stories in star wars -- he must have decided that he wasn't going to celebrate those as they were, but take the ideas and reshape them into a new story.
That comment is just propaganda from someone trying to put a spin on the notion that "We created this franchise, millions of you love it and want to add your own ideas, but we still want complete control." The only reason they are allowing parody and documentary is because they have to. So they make up something that sounds like all the spin you hear from corporations, politicians, and anyone else who wants to keep their true motives from being exposed.
And the original "endorsement" by Lucas was just another piece of propaganda to mollify fans when they realized that they had started to alienate their customers, ala RIAA. There's nothing behind it but some lame PR.
Robotiq.com is heavily tested on animals
But legally speaking many companies believe that a parody doesn't have to be funny - it just has to imitate. As an example some may recall the slashdot story on Tierra - who is re-creating old Sierra games in a new engine. They have this sort of view on parodies.
I think that the point is that Lucas does not get to decide what a parody is if it came to legal action.
So what if he says only certain things are allowed in his contest. That is his prerogative.
You seem to forget 1 thing - this is a series of movies that Lucas made for YOUR entertainment. So what if they were so good they spawned off this whole pseudo-culture that we see today. These movies were made for your enjoyment, and Lucas has no obligation to make them or more importantly make them to YOUR specifications.
Look, I like the whole Star Wars franchise, but I also realize that if Lucas screws it up, so be it, his loss, not mine (there are a hell of a lot better movies out to see than Eps 1-3).
RonB
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
Return of the Jar Jar Clones?!
... brrrrrrr ...
Imagine the whole thing with Back street boys as the only human actors plus gazillions of animated JJs
orangeguru
In other news, making Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead obviously means that Tom Stoppard doesn't appreciate the original story!
Star Wars Episode III: "I wipe my ass with your money"
Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
Mr. Lucas, it's tough to celebrate the story the way it is if you keep changing it.
...was Star Wars a documentary about Hidden Fortress, or a parody of it?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
"Fandom is about celebrating the story the way it is."
;)
If he wanted to maintain the integrity of the Star Wars universe, he should never have released a Christmas Special known as the "Star Wars Christmas Special".... Because there's know Christ in the Star Wars universe, they substituted in something called "Life Day". Among the events, we see Bea Atrhur running the cantina and singing, Chewie's wife trying to follow along on a cookiing show, and guest appearances by all the major cast members.
Of course, I'd love to see someone film a documentary on this subject
Heh... interesting you should pick that particular reference. I caught the Weird Al episode of "Behind the Music" (I think that's what it's called) on VH1 recently. I remember one part in particular, after they showed Coolio's reaction to "Amish Paradise" -- to paraphrase:
- "... he must have enjoyed that check we sent him!"
Coolio did get paid for Weird Al's use of his song. How much, or precisely why, were not revealed. If Coolio was as displeased with "Amish Paradise" as he claimed to be, he could have sued... but he didn't. Parody may be protected, but copyright is copyright -- considering (in this case) the tune, not the words. Weird Al's version is easily identifiable as the same tune, thus would (in my mind, IANAL) require royalty payments.Spaceballs is different, I suppose... although using identifiable characters, Mel Brooks wrote his own story -- instead of having to use an existing song. Also, the characters themselves are parodies of the originals.
Odd how the human mind works -- we can relate things by visual cues easily (a large (tall | fat) furry character, someone wearing a black helmet, Mel Brooks as Yogurt...) -- but to identify similar diversity in music takes significant training. Go figure.
"...America's great minds of today, teaching America's great minds of tomorrow. Poor bastards." -- A Beautiful Min
I think not, I have heard a lot of people make comparisons oh Star Wars to Authurian legend or Greek Mythos, but both of those genera have plenty of derivative work. All Lucas is doing by only allowing documentary or parody is basically making sure that Star Wars won't live on for any where near as long as King Arthur and his court or Homer and his great Odyssey.
Star Wars has made George Lucas a billionaire (or close to it) and you have to ask exactly what he thinks he's got to lose by letting loose of the franchise. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did this with his Sherlock Holmes character and greatly enriched popular culture. For example, Sherlock Holmes appears in more films than any other recurring character.
Lucas has also been very grandiose over the years with his association with Joseph Campbell. The two have promted Star Wars from "successful pop culture" to "modern-day myth making." You'd think that releasing his tight-fisted grasp on the material would cement Lucas' mythmaker status. Sure, Tolkein never let loose of his canon, but then again, he never claimed to be the new Homer.
Episode I demonstrated that Lucas was pretty much out of new or even good ideas. If Episode II continues this, then we can pretty much bet that Episode III will draw a shameful end to what the original Star Wars started so brilliantly. If Lucas wants to live up to his own hype and ensure that Star Wars has the new ideas to make it a legacy, he should let loose of it.
If he just wants to make a couple more hundred million dollars before he dies, then, yeah, he's doing exactly the right thing.
I found the first script of Star wars once at a film bookstore in SF and decided to buy the copy just as to document myself about script writing. I was amazed as how much content from the Hidden Fortress from Kurosawa the script contained. Luke was a farmer, the princess was carrying stolen treasures, etc... In short the Kurosawa's story had been rewritten for a Science fiction epic. I realized that the storyline had been stollen from one of the most creative movie makers of all time and adapted to the western world. In short I was discusted by the whole SW phenomenom. Like Picasso, use to say: To be an artist: steal, don't copy.
Trully, if Lucas was playing in one of its own movies, he would be acting as someone from the dark force. This guy has shown only greed and bad taste for the past 20 years (the movies he made and came close to direct himself where mere failures if it wasn't for the SW brand name that was attached to them.)
How can you spend money on stuff that makes this thief even more rich is out of my understanding.
PPA, the girl next door.
-- I feel better now. Thanks for asking.
There are many different versions of cheese out there. Each one could be considered a special edition. I only by a few types, the types that I like.
Believe it or not, I'm not being exploited by the cheese manufacturers. There is no law stating that I must buy each and every type of cheese out there. When I go to the grocery store, I make a decision on what I want to take home. I don't mindlessly walk around picking up everything in the store simply because it is there.
You seem to think that the consumer has no will, or personal desire, or even capacity to make a decision about their purchases.
Seeing as neither the setting, nor the plot, nor character names (as opposed to character types, and by no means all of them), were taken from Hidden Fortress, the connection between the two movies has been drastically overblown, IMHO. Lucas acknowledges it, and Kurosawa's other works, as inspiration, as well as the rest of the list: classical mythology, pulp sci-fi, westerns--you know the drill. There is no way, however, that anyone who's actually seen the two movies would be able to say "oh, he just substituted this character for that, and spaceships for horses"--it just isn't that close a match.
"Hardly used" will not fetch you a better price for your brain.
Check out Lucas' opinion of critics in this Salon piece
... They certainly don't know anything about history; they don't know anything about film. They don't know anything about politics. They don't know anything about sociology or psychology or anything. I mean, it's like, you get into a conversation with them and it's hard to find a subject that they can actually converse on."
An excerpt: "I mean, they aren't like the rest of us. They don't have any knowledge of anything. They're not successful in any world that I've
What can I add? Not exaclty Mr. Open-Mind. I don't like the idea of him as a judge.
Lucas is legally entitled to do just this. Under US Copyright law, "...the owner of copyright.. has the exclusive rights... to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work"* i.e. Lucas has the sole right to create a sequel, write another Jar Jar adventure, or whatever. The only stuff he's "allowing" is stuff that he doesn't have a legal right to prevent anyway. Commentary and parody are protected as Fair Uses.**
If you don't like the law, think it is ridiculously restrictive of free speech maybe, then perhaps you should write your Congressman?
Sources:
* Title 17 Section 106
** Title 17 Section 107
Star Wars: Broken Allegiance: It's decent for a homemade video. It got space fights, light saber (kind of cheesy but hey it's homemade), Darth Vader, stormtroopers, forces, and long (23 minutes!). Crank up your bass, you bass freaks!
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I think it's obvious tha tno one is attacking the law here...well, then again, I'm sure there are a few people here that are...but the main point is, fans are upset that Lucas seems to be going to many lengths lately to protect his franchise, at the expense of some of the most die-hard fans.
Oh darn. Now we don't get to see the home made film where Luke and Han try to escape from 35-year old Bill's mother's basment.
' Pretty rich coming from the filmmaker who constantly cites greed as being the root of the dark side, and who keeps discussing the liberating values of digital filmmaking. Guess as long as it doesn't hurt his Empire..."
Whoa?!?! I don't know about that. MAYBE it's because it's his story and he wants to know what happens in it. I mean, if your fan fiction becomes generally accepted and screws up the story he is trying to tell, then he has lost control of his work. I mean, what if he kills Luke Skywalker in one episode, and you have him doing something in a fan fic that is set later?
I recently discovered another game written for the same class that is a even more blatant rip-off. It is here. Strangely, this second game was developed without any knowledge of mine. Both seem to be inspired by Star Wars and specifically by the asteroid field scene in ESB.
So could we get sued?
Lasers Controlled Games!
Oh, the iorny
"Hardly used" will not fetch you a better price for your brain.
Only documentaries and parodies in the CONTEST. CONTEST--as in the CONTEST. That is to say, the rules of the CONTEST will be allowing in the CONTEST only parodies and documentaries.
Why is this? Probably because yes, Lucas doesn't want people telling a serious alternative to his Star Wars universe. I say his because it is his. He created it. He made the original movies. Hie company authorizes all official fiction and technical supplements. It is his creation.
Now, I will address all the comments I've been reading.
This does not equal a crackdown on fan fiction. This means that in said CONTEST fan fiction-esque films may not be submitted. No, you will not be arrested for shooting your own film about *your* version of Star Wars. Just don't expect official sanction for it.
Those of you who expect more: I ask on what grounds do you expect this. George Lucas is under absolutely no obligation to do anything for you. Just as you are under no obligation to do anything for him.
He is the artist. He is the owner and the creator of the material. Yes, he based it off Hidden Fortress and B-movie serials. However, his story was about some droids, not some Japanese, therefore it is PARODY and not "fan fiction."
I see many people comparing Lucas to Vader, twisting story dialogue to demonize him...etc. First, I find it quietly funny that you parody Star Wars to attack him, but I digress. Personal attacks, while always modded up on this site, don't accomplish much of anything. Bill Clinton, an expert on personal attacks, said he welcomed them in campaings since that meant his opponents had nothing left.
All this is a long way of saying RTFS. This is a contest in which certain types of films will be allowed an other types will not. You might as well flame the Obfuscated C contest for not allowing your "elite" Visual Basic program.
Thank you and good day, ~Chazzf
No statement is true, not even this one.
I think a lot of today's claims to something like Star Wars are based on trademarks. So, preserving legal protection for their trademark characters may be important to them.
Or Macbeth II: Lady Macbeth Meets the Teletubbies (Okay, so this wouldn't violate any laws...)
Isn't it funny that the only things that should be illegal, are not?
I ate my sig.
What's needed is something like patch and diff for audio/video. If one had to follow a precise set of instructions to make their own Phantom Edit then indeed no one would watch it. However, you could stick your Phantom Menance DVD into your machine and uses a viewer that accepts a file of instructions to create a Phantom Edit in real time. It could be more than instructions as well. Replacement sound clips, video overlays, and video clips could be injected as well. As long as the "patches" do not themselves contain trademarked or copyrighted content then nothing legal could be done about this. One would have to own a copy of the original work to use it.
Parodies might be able to get away with using something that sounds a bit like the original, but Weird Al prefers to stay on good terms with the targets of his parodies, at least as singles. He'll frequently perform other stuff at concerts that the original artist hasn't given him permission to release.
I'd love to see a short about Itchy (Chewie's son) going to school, and ripping the arms off his teacher when he gets flunked on the Imperial pronunciation test... Yeah! Get midieval Itchy! Star Wars Xmas Special 2: Itchy's Revenge! Have Quentin Tarantino direct!
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
Note that this applies only to "serious" fanfiction. Parodies and documentaries don't dilute the IP in the same way.
Don't write off Lucas's attitude as simple greed. He likes to make movies without studio 3-piece idiots looking over his shoulder. Only way he can do that is to be the majority backer in his own projects. For that he needs a steady stream of tie-in income.
Still, I find this supposed protectiveness of Lucas's creativity to be a little hypocritical. It isn't just that the writing in the Star Wars movies has gotten more and more childish. If he wants to control the story, why doesn't Lucas pay closer attention to what the tie-in authors write? When The Empire Strikes Back came out, a friend of mine who was into Star Wars comics was pretty upset — DV being Luke's father invalidated more story lines than the return of Bobby Ewing.
Hey, it's just business!
Look for the small print: "Fandom is about celebrating the story the way it is, hence this game system is only to be used for acting out movie scenes exactly as they were presented."
(okay, maybe that's 5 words)
The reason I say that (and I thought this was newsworthy) is because Lucas' actions and the public perception he attempts to display are so out of wack. On the one hand he's attempting a damage control campaign to placate fans by claiming that their criticisms of The Phantom Menace have been taken on board, while at the same time dissing them. From a recent Time cover story:
Lucas blames the anti-Jar Jar sentiment on "37-year-old guys who spend all their time on the Internet. But you have to remember that when we did The Empire Strikes Back, some people hated C-3PO. When we did Jedi, they just loathed the Ewoks. There was no Internet to jazz it up, but there was the same conversation. Fans are very opinionated, and that's good. But I can't make a movie for fans." Nonetheless, Jar Jar has a far less prominent role this time. In movie theaters you will hear a cheer from Binks-ophobes when, as he launches into an anecdote, Padme cursorily cuts him off.
Lucas is continually at the forefront of discussing how liberating digital technologies will be to filmmakers; the problem is his actions belie a complete ignorance and arrogance that denies there can be any other effect than making it cheaper for him to make his films in his own weird way. He seems to be totally unaware of the effect the universe he created has had on millions of imaginations; or if he is, he wants to control that in a manner that suits him. Thus fandom is a thing which can be used to promotional effect and to make his hardcore constitiuency feel that he adores them... But when he slips in caveats to a contest that he's controlling in order to limit how that can be expressed he's really saying, "You can use those new technologies, just as long as you don't do it how I want you to." He's opened up a can of worms and seems totally oblivious that he's done so.
I'm a paid, working filmmaker. My first film is coming out this fall. I would never make a fan fiction film; I prefer to make my own. But I do feel that as cultural artifacts (and in my opinion very cheesy ones at that) some of the fan made Star Wars films are impressive enough and show such hard work with limited resources that they deserve some genuine praise and are sterling examples of exactly what doors digital filmmaking are going to open.
God, if I had a dollar for every genuine working filmmaker I know of my generation who wasn't influenced or their imagination fired by the original Star Wars, I'd be funding my own damn movies. Under those auspices I believe that given the line Lucas likes to spout he ought to pay attention to them. After all, he continually revises the continuity of his own universe when it suits his franchises and spin offs into other media to make more money. He allowed and has even admitted to letting the marketing tie ins to The Phantom Menace run rampant. Read this even better Newsweek story. Does Lucas play through all the video games made from his Empire to ensure quality control of continuity? I seriously doubt it. In other words, it's fine to do this as long as he's making some money off of it, or it's unenforceable since he lost the Starballz suit.
** http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr/ ** Human rights in North Korea. 1 million estimated dead from starvation.
If he allowed it once, he wouldn't be able to fight true piracy in the courts later on.
GOD DAMNIT! WHY DO PEOPLE BELIVE THIS!?
That's just not true. If you don't protect a trademark, you can lose it. The same is not true w.r.t copyrights or patents!!
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
I just want to give a +1 funny to whoever modded the parent down as offtopic...
Liberty uber alles.
New non-parody works, though (like fanfiction), which utilize the characters to create original fiction, are legally problematic. If Lucas acquiesced in the creation of these, then he would be yielding his copyright into the public domain. This would be a hugely bad idea for him.
NO HE WOULD NOT
You simply cannot 'yield' your copyright to the public domain. That only happens to trademarks, not copyrights, not patents.
You know the movie Its a wonderful life? They used to play it on every station ever Christmas. Then, a couple years ago someone discovered they owned the copyright. Despite the movie being in the 'public domain' for decades, it's now only shown on one station each Christmas.
Copyright enforcement is totally and absolutely optional you lose it. If you let people copy your stuff around all they want, you still retain copyright.
In other words, you're totally misinformed and do not deserve a five for this moronic screed.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Al asked Coolio's 'people' and they gave him permission. Al assumed that it was coolio himself that gave him permission, in fact, coolio was never consulted.
Weird Al has absolutely no obligation to ask for or pay for any of the music he parodies. He does as a courtesy, however.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Does anyone honestly think that Lucas would be so protective just because of money? Because quite frankly I strongly doubt "money" is a factor in the creation of fan-made films. The odds of any of these films making any money is about 0%; money is simply not the real issue.
George lucas has just always been protective of his story. If he doesn't anway anyone else taking over where he leaves off, just respect it.
Coolio did get paid for Weird Al's use of his song.
Why would Wierd Al pay Coolio for a Stevie Wonder song?
On "Songs in the Key of Life", the track was called "Past time paradise."
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Now wait... the idea here is that I can't write a (serious) James Bond novel, have it published, and thus take away from the copyright owner's by devaluing the franchise.
Can you think of *anything* that even the most dedicated of _fans_ could create that would devalue the Star Wars franchise. Even the with bugets in the tens of thousands (the most they could ever hope to raise) alternate storylines or Fan Fiction will only prove and interesting idea or speculation, nothing that could ever hope to compete with the real thing.
I understand the law as far as books and movies are concerned. It's possible for regular people to create something that could compare to "professional" fiction or music. But competing with $100 Million + hollywood blockbuster? Not bloody likely.
I support copyright as far as it prevents the inventer from losing his or her rightful profit. When it *only* prevents the profit of others, I think the laws are ridiculous.
Nearly all of the imagery of modern culture comes from copyrighted mass media sources. In a way, people have every bit as much of a vested interest in the right to freely discuss Darth Vader as they do George Bush.
There was a lot of debate between our founding fathers about copyright. There was very little about freedom of speach. I consider the latter to be far more fundamental, and when the two come in conflict, I think it is generally best to side with the freedom.
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
Shakespear lifted most of his plots.
Nearly all of classical theater is taken straight from mythology or history.
Most pre-1800 fiction was elaboration upon the bible (which was a modernized form of an already thousand year old tradition with some bits lifted from eastern culture)
the idea that the author must come up with something totally *new* is a very modern one.
Even Joyce's Ulysses, widely considered the most shockingly original work of english literature ever to be published, took it's form from Homer's Odyssey, it's characters from Irish politics, and Joyce's earlier works, and it's themes and style from Irish folk culture.
All authors borrow on previous work. Mythology is a particularly popular subject. Starwars is our modern mythology...
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
my enjoyment of cheese is intangible ;)
"If the difference between Edition 1 and Edition 2 is 10 minutes of additional footage, shouldn't consumers who already purchased Edition 1 get a steep discount on Edition 2? They've already paid for most of the content"
It's pretty simple really. If you are willing to spend X dollars to see those 10 minutes, then you spend those X dollars. If not, then you don't.
It's perfectly fair. Say you just bought a pair of shoes, and the next day you find a special edition version of the shoes you just bought. They are basically the same, except the shoe laces are slightly longer, and are blue. Why should the shoe manufacturer offer you a discount on the new shoes?
Or maybe you would like this one better: You go out and buy a painting. The next day you find that same painting for sale, except the author upgraded it by painting a small dog in the corner of the painting. Why should you get a discount on that special edition painting?
You may wish you had waited a day and gotten the special edition instead... but because your painting is nearly identical to the special edition, you don't feel it is worth the full price. Either you steal it, or you don't buy it. Pretty straight forward.
>But competing with $100 Million + hollywood
>blockbuster? Not bloody likely.
Never saw "Clerks"? Total budget: about 26,800 USD (minus the soundtrack).
How about "El Mariachi"? $7000.
Even "The Blair Witch Project" only cost about $35,000 before post-production.
You don't need a huge budget to make a good movie.
-l
Hey, public TV is _BIG_ business. Their lawyers would crush you in a nanosecond. Seeing as how the government subsidizes the TV shows, they can put that much more of their billions of profits into hiring lawyers.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
no one is stopping anyone from typing the word 'nintendo', you just cant sell video games with that name.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Damn, I thought that painting analogy was perfect. I don't know much about licensing music.
I do know that it is illegal for me to start making copies of a Terry Redlin print I own. That seems to be pretty much in line with the music scenario. If I happen to spill bong water all over that print, I'm not going to get it out of the good nature of the folks that sold me the print. I'm not sure where the licensing fits in.
As for the topic, there is nothing illegal about creating a derivative work of anything. Happens all the time. As long as it is clearly a derivative and not a copy, there's no legal ground to stand on against it. All Georgy can do is regulate his contest. And try prevent other people from using his trademarks.
To demonstrate this, I'll create a really short derivative work based loosely on George Lucas's StarWars universe and characters:
Luke, being a big whiny dork, busts out his trusty lightsaber to end an arguement over whether or not it was incestuous of him to french kiss his own sister back on the Milennium Falcon.
Having recently overclocked his saber, through the use of some inovative water cooling (the gear for which being kept in his sleeve), the energy blade springs to life faster than ever. So fast, in fact, that the blade springs to life *before* he actually hits the button.
This, of course, causes the StarWars universe to implode, resulting in George Lucas getting an eight-ball hemmorhage in his left eye (not pretty), and losing all StarWars inspiration that may have once resided in that peanut between his ears.
The End.
Or Is It?
did I say "make a good movie?"
no, i love independant cinema.
i said "make a hollywood blockbuster"
and that costs $100 Million +
is some fan-created starwars spinoff going to make you less likely to see the theater offerings from Lucas? I think not.
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!