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- <html>
- <head>
- <title>What does "story idea" mean?</title>
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- <h1>More about story ideas</h1>
-
- <em>One of the conditions of JMS' presence on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5 is that
- people can't post story ideas, since that would put him on shaky legal ground
- if any of them happened to coincide with things he had planned. Naturally,
- the question arises, what's the difference between a story idea and simple
- speculation about what's going to happen next? The following is an attempt
- to clarify the issue.</em>
-
- <blockquote>
- What's the difference between a story idea and a speculation...eek. The
- problem with this whole discussion -- perhaps the main problem -- is the
- fuzziness, because it *hasn't been defined yet*. We are now in the OF
- defining it via this exchange. It's what a person might choose to sue over.
- And there's no way to quantify or predict that.
-
- <p>
- I do think there's *some* difference between the two. I think that
- primary way this discussion can get into trouble is in the level of detail.
- It's pretty much impossible to sue for a brief *idea*; but the more elaborate
- a suggestion or speculation gets, the more points of potential comparison
- emerge, and the greater the liability. "See, your honor? My speculation on
- what happened contained 57 specific plot points, and what Straczynski later
- produced had 54 of those points. I submit that he saw what I wrote, decided
- it was better, stole my idea, and took it for his own!"
-
- <p>
- [...]
-
- <p>
- But since it has come up...again, I'd say that the main point of
- differentiation is in the level of complexity. The longer and more detailed
- the speculation, new histories for characters, new behind the scenes stuff,
- plot complications, motivations, on and on -- the more something is built that
- one could sue over.
-
- <p>
- This is a very difficult area, and there are all kinds of ways that it
- can bite you. Over on CIS, for instance, Paramount came down on a series of
- messages with speculative plot info on ST 7 with lawyers and in injunction and
- major-leage threats against the people involved, CIS itself and anyone else
- they could think of. We're trying to find a more personable way of handling
- this situation. And for the most part, I think we're doing fine. But every so
- often this little issue raises its ugly head, and has to be dealt with.
-
- <p align=right>
- jms
- </blockquote>
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-
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- <h5>
- Last update:
- October 8, 1995
-
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