Copyright infringement or fair use?

tomtomhotep

Prohibited Uses of the Star Trek Properties:

You may not use copyrighted content from the Properties

Would re-creating an entire storyline from an episode of ST:TNG, be an infringement?

darkjeff

Not a lawyer, but...

If you filmed a fan remake with no commercial gain, then it would be fair use.
Creating the mission here would be fair use on your part - but Cryptic can't host it because then it'd be part of the content they're making available to their player base (which would count as being for commercial purposes).

So I'm thinking it's a no-go.

thegreendragoon1

Fully admitting that I'm no copyright lawyer, I would say it depends on how close your work resembles the original.

If you mission is only loosely based on the plot of an episode, that's probably fine. If you plan to recreate an episode in close detail, that's probably bad. I can point out a definite pitfall for you. As Foundry authors, we are barred from recreating the likeness of any actor. This means that while we can reference Captain Picard, we can't make an NPC that looks like Patrick Stewart.

I would say if you want to take a classic trek plot and throw your own spin on it with the player's captain, then go for it. Just don't recreate an episode for the sake of it though, be creative.

If you want an example of a foundry mission that does something similar, I recommend Zorbane's mission Duritanium Man. It borrows heavily from the plot of Iron Man, but still maintains it's own unique creativity.

captainrevo1

You cant copy an episode line by line or retell the whole thing, or use the characters etc, so dont even think about that or you will be wasting your time. they have said that is a no no.

you can take the concept of the episode and make a new version but it would need to be a bit different. mix the scenes up, add a few new bits etc.

drogyn1701

The full text of that bullet point is this:

You may not use copyrighted content from the Properties, including but not limited to web content, promotional materials (posters, advertisements) or existing licensed merchandise (novels, trading cards, figurines).

In essence, it means you can't draw on anything from Star Trek except what is specifically listed in the EULA, which is the five TV shows and the movies, note that the list does not include the Animated Series, the 2009 Star Trek Movie or Into Darkness.

This section doesn't really prohibit you from re-creating an episode. However, the above posters are correct in saying that you can't use the likenesses of the actors (or any real people for that matter). And copying the dialogue from an episode might be considered plagiarism.

A good example of taking the concept from an episode and putting a new spin on it is "Desperate Prey" by djf021. He even hangs a lampshade on it by having someone say something like "Hey, I think I read a mission report about a similar situation involving the Enterprise..."

tomtomhotep

Ok, thanks everyone!

blevok

sorry to resurrect a semi-old thread, but this is exactly what i've been looking for. let me backtrack for a second...

my primary interest in sto, when i first heard it would be made was to play through the events of the episodes and movies. then i heard that this would not be part of the plan for the game, and even worse, that it would be set in a specific time frame, after the events of the 24th century. i was extremely disappointed, but i decided to play the game anyway, because it's still trek (in some vague definition at least).

later on, when the foundry was announced, i thought to myself, ok at least the players will be able to create the missions that i will actually have a desire to play. then upon reading the foundry terms, my dreams were shattered once again.

i realized that the only hope was for players to find creative ways to get around the rules. so every week or so, i spend some time searching the foundry, looking for any mission that might be centered around canon events or locations. it's difficult and time very consuming due to the ui lag, but i have found a couple. i never came across desperate prey, but i will play it as soon as i log in next.

now my question is, does anyone know if there exists any kind of list of canon foundry missions, or a better way of searching for these missions? searching for episode names has yielded nothing, and asking around in-game has only resulted in recommendations to play peoples original missions.

thanks in advance for any help or mission recommendations.

ajstoner

There is not. We have been harranging them for a better search function a long time now.

thegreendragoon1

You're not going to find any recreations of trek episodes in the Foundry for many of the reasons listed above. There might be one or two cases where the author has made a choice to set their missions in another era. But this isn't a popular choice as it leads to lower reviews from the average player. One or two more missions I think have you sent back to a famous event from the shows via time travel. But that's about it. The overwhelming majority are going to be set at the present time.

lincolninspace

thegreendragoon1 wrote: »

Fully admitting that I'm no copyright lawyer, I would say it depends on how close your work resembles the original.

If you mission is only loosely based on the plot of an episode, that's probably fine. If you plan to recreate an episode in close detail, that's probably bad. I can point out a definite pitfall for you. As Foundry authors, we are barred from recreating the likeness of any actor. This means that while we can reference Captain Picard, we can't make an NPC that looks like Patrick Stewart.

I would say if you want to take a classic trek plot and throw your own spin on it with the player's captain, then go for it. Just don't recreate an episode for the sake of it though, be creative.

If you want an example of a foundry mission that does something similar, I recommend Zorbane's mission Duritanium Man. It borrows heavily from the plot of Iron Man, but still maintains it's own unique creativity.

I agree many of the series had some episodes with similar plots in common. the big no no is copying actor's likenesses. Another source is a list of unused episodes on memory alpha (sorry i have no link) some of them are pretty cool.