You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
85 lines
2.9 KiB
85 lines
2.9 KiB
<html>
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>What does "story idea" mean?</title>
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
<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>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<pre>
|
|
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
<p nowrap>
|
|
<nobr><a href="/lurk/lurker.html"><img
|
|
align=bottom border=0
|
|
width=64 height=24 src="/lurk/nav/foot-station.gif"
|
|
alt="[Home] "></a><a
|
|
href="#"><img
|
|
align=bottom border=0
|
|
width=72 height=13 src="/lurk/nav/foot-pagetop.gif"
|
|
alt="[Top] "></a><a
|
|
href="mailto:koreth+lgfeedback@midwinter.com"><img
|
|
align=bottom border=0
|
|
width=80 height=13 src="/lurk/nav/foot-comments.gif"
|
|
alt="[Comments] "></a><img
|
|
align=bottom
|
|
width=284 height=13 src="/lurk/nav/foot-bare.gif"
|
|
alt="">
|
|
</nobr>
|
|
|
|
<h5>
|
|
Last update:
|
|
October 8, 1995
|
|
|
|
</h5>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|