SG1 Archive pleads guilty

[Andy867]

there should be a strictly Stargate Channel With Discussions of the show, interviews, showing episodes, and merchandise selling (like the Home Shopping Network) it COULD do well.

[MartoufMarty]

there should be a strictly Stargate Channel With Discussions of the show, interviews, showing episodes, and merchandise selling (like the Home Shopping Network) it COULD do well.

I would buy it lol.

And I'd probably watch it 3/4 of the day!

[Major Fischer]

It could be the law enforcement source. They aren't always known for getting their facts right when it comes to scifi anything. I work in the role playing game industry and there is a rather famous case about fifteen years ago where the secret service began an investigation, confescated computers, and nearly bankrupted a publisher because they mistook a blade runner like game about future cyberpunk stuff for a guide to computer hacking.

I own a copy of the resulting book for the collectors value alone. It took them a VERY long time to get their computers back and the Secret Service was still telling them "you don't understand, this is not a game."

[prion]

Wow.

They need to update their info! It doesn't air on Showtime, and I never heard of it airing on UPN.

Wow though. I remember when I first became a Stargate SG-1 fan downloading episodes from his site...

It began on showtime (five seasons) and yes it sure as heck does air on UPN. I see it twice a week on UPN.

However, the fact that he profited from downloads is the big bugaboo. Had he not made money, and listened to hte C&D orders, he wouldn't be in court. There is a limit to how much TPTB will turn a blind eye to fan activities, but this crossed the line.

[Skydiver]

the upn reference is probably the syndicated shows....which air on whatever network the local station is affiliated with

round here, channel 43 is part fox, part upn

[KatG]

I've seen season 1 of some shows go for $100+, so getting SG1 at $50 (if you shop around) is very good.

I actually get them at Sam's Club for $40 and some cents. Not bad at all.

[Darren]

The article is from a specific city paper (L.A., I think), so they'll be specific to the stations it airs (aired) in their readers' neck of the woods.

[Andy867]

I picked up S7 at best buy for 42.99 (before my $10 Reward Zone coupons)

[Melyanna]

Captiolism is the system we live with. for better or for worse.

And bri brought up a good point. There are other fandoms that are nowhere near as tolerant as MGM and Stargate are. fanfiction.net will refuse to publish fan works based on origianal works of some authors, because those authors have asked ff.net not to.

It's my understanding that Lucasfilm is most protective of Star Wars, Paramount has been known to be pissy more than once over Trek, JK Rowling tolerates fanfic, as long as it's not either slash or above an R rating, i'm not sure which

Anne Rice and Terry Goodkind are among the least tolerant of authors out there, for whatever reason. Marion Zimmer Bradley was as well, after an incident in which a fan sued her for allegedly stealing one of his ideas. Lucasfilm has an attitude of look the other way when it comes to fan fic — the only times they've come crashing down on people is when they are either making money off it (like the guy who tried to sell the "script" of Episode III a couple years back on eBay) or if a collection of fics is really, really obscene.

Paramount has gone on a rampage with 'zines and fan sites a few times, but they usually calm down after a while. J. K. Rowling, as far as I know, has not had any sites shut down for slash or explicit material. One of the largest and most respected HP sites on the web allows R-rated fics, as well as limited slash (Sirius/Remus, to be specific). (However, about three years ago Warner Bros. tried to have some sites shut down, on copyright issues.)

I don't know how the SG-1 PTB really feel about the issue. Given the fact that fan fic authors have been hired to write published novels in the franchise, I'd say they don't care. And they probably don't pay much attention to the less mainstream offerings of fan fic, as there are plenty of sites out there that deal exclusively with Jack/Daniel, or with NC17 Sam/Jack. But the minute someone starts making money off of it, there are bound to be problems — in fact, I've understood that a fan artist has recently gotten into serious trouble for selling her SG-1 drawings.

A law school friend of mine just explained it to me this way — most of the time they'll look the other way if it's derivative, if you're taking their characters and settings and doing your own thing with them. The problem comes when you're just copying, as in taking their product and putting it on your website. When that happens, you're taking profit away from the copyright holder.

Technically it's all a violation of copyright, but they tend only to be tetchy about it when the latter happens.

Mel

[Skydiver]

I know i've read anne rice in interviews openly not liking anyone messing with her characters.

her right. she made the world.

and what i may have heard about rowling was a dislike of slash involving the kids WHEN they're kids. which is kiddie porn....it;s just kiddie porn with fictional characters

And i think you're right. Playing is one thing. If fans are doing it for fun, not taking any money from mgm's coffers, tracking them down is usuallly more trouble than it's worth

but if they're making money, then instead of 'hey, we're just having fun' as an excuse, it turns into 'yeah, but your fun is ruining our bottom line'

not to mention the confusion caused. there are people out there that will buy a fan made item and think that it's official. then if that item is of a lower quality, then the official owners reputation suffers

[Jprime]

It could be the law enforcement source. They aren't always known for getting their facts right when it comes to scifi anything. I work in the role playing game industry and there is a rather famous case about fifteen years ago where the secret service began an investigation, confescated computers, and nearly bankrupted a publisher because they mistook a blade runner like game about future cyberpunk stuff for a guide to computer hacking.

I own a copy of the resulting book for the collectors value alone. It took them a VERY long time to get their computers back and the Secret Service was still telling them "you don't understand, this is not a game."

What game was it?

[Jprime]

I know i've read anne rice in interviews openly not liking anyone messing with her characters.

her right. she made the world.

and what i may have heard about rowling was a dislike of slash involving the kids WHEN they're kids. which is kiddie porn....it;s just kiddie porn with fictional characters

And i think you're right. Playing is one thing. If fans are doing it for fun, not taking any money from mgm's coffers, tracking them down is usuallly more trouble than it's worth

but if they're making money, then instead of 'hey, we're just having fun' as an excuse, it turns into 'yeah, but your fun is ruining our bottom line'

not to mention the confusion caused. there are people out there that will buy a fan made item and think that it's official. then if that item is of a lower quality, then the official owners reputation suffers

And if you think THAT was nasty, you should have read a fanfic I read a while ago with Fox Mulder/Harry Potter slash. I bet some people stay awake at night coming up with these compinations...

[Major Fischer]

What game was it?

GURPS Cyberpunk by Steve Jackson Games.

It's detailed by the company with links to actual documents in the case at SJ Games vs. the Secret Service

[Jprime]

ARRRRG that name seems SO familiar! What does GURPS stand for?

[Major Fischer]

ARRRRG that name seems SO familiar! What does GURPS stand for?

Generic Universal Role Playing System.

It's suppose to be a dice system/game mechanic that would fit in any world or setting. They just released the 4th edition of it's core book. About the only people who think it's any of the things that it's name implies are it's publishers.

But the company produces some REALLY nice world books. GURPS Cyberpunk suffers because it's 15 years old and computers have changed so fast that it's a little bit too much fantasy now, but I for one really like their historical works. I got a by name credit in their World War II Britian book...