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I'm Mr.Gerristead and this is my Public Apology

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Dear Steven Davis and the rest of the Star Trek Online community.

I Wrongfully used Steven Davis's design for the USS Excalibur for the Enterprise-F contest without his permission and consent, On behalf of Myself, My fleet and My Family Name I wish for it to be taken down.

I will take any punishment if need be. I should not have used that without your permission Mr. Steven Davis.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    i pray you dont consider Seppuku.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    1234567890
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Revlot wrote:
    Just remember, other people OWN star trek, most of us here are just illegal tresspassers. They can have us arrested for using THEIR trek without permission. Just how Gene wanted it, everybody has to pay to participate in the future.

    While I don't disagree that CBS, Paramount, etc. have rights to Star Trek that we can infringe, I'm not sure how they could have us arrested. They could bring legal action to enforce their rights, but I don't think arrest is amongst their remedies.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    It's over....

    The point has been made and apologized for... anything else is moot.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    DaveyNY wrote: »
    It's over....

    The point has been made and apologized for... anything else is moot.

    Does that include the post you just made? :p
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Does that include the post you just made? :p

    Glad to have you back Nagus. I have missed you!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    This is a good start for the other 1,000 plagiarized entries uploaded. :mad:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Does that include the post you just made? :p

    :p Back at ya.... and my Troll Tongue is bigger....:eek:


    (and not just by internet bigger standards either...) :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    DaveyNY wrote: »
    :p Back at ya.... and my Troll Tongue is bigger....:eek:


    (and not internet bigger either...) :D

    For it to be "back at me" I would have had to have been the one that actually said it. I wasnt :o
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    For it to be "back at me" I would have had to have been the one that actually said it. I wasnt :o

    You stuck yer tongue out at me at the end of yer post... I was just responding to that...




    ...Dang...when ya havta esplain the joke....
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Dear Steven Davis and the rest of the Star Trek Online community.

    I Wrongfully used Steven Davis's design for the USS Excalibur for the Enterprise-F contest without his permission and consent, On behalf of Myself, My fleet and My Family Name I wish for it to be taken down.

    I will take any punishment if need be. I should not have used that without your permission Mr. Steven Davis.

    Well said, sir.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Thankyou for taking the time to write the apology, Bill.

    It's one thing to steal someone's work, but it's a better person to own up to your faults and admit them, so i accept your apology.

    I'm already in contact with Cryptic about it, and i'll leave the rest of proceedings to be private, and let Bill get back on with playing the game.

    Revlot, as usual, displays his troll-like nature i see, completely misunderstanding copyright ownership and legality... but i guess some folk just feel the need to support theft because it's not a theft that they understand.


    After so much correspondance on the issue, and STO players getting in touch with me about the Excalibur Class and it being in STO, I've contacted Daniel Stahl, the Executive Producer over the possibility of signing the design copyright to Paramount/CBS/Cryptic for free (so much for my wanting to make money out of it, huh Revlot? Sure you'll find some way to troll that too lol)


    Again, thankyou for your apology Bill, i would still like you to give me an email at the address i provided you with so we could finish up matters.


    -Ste Davis
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Actually Unique ship designs are outside of Paramount/CBS's jurisdiction.
    They have no say about any non-canon ship design.

    Which is why there are some commercial low-budget games out there with Star Trek like ships out there.
    They just dont resemble any of the canon ship designs.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Alexraptor wrote: »
    Actually Unique ship designs are outside of Paramount/CBS's jurisdiction.
    They have no say about any non-canon ship design.

    Which is why there are some commercial low-budget games out there with Star Trek like ships out there.
    They just dont resemble any of the canon ship designs.

    They DO have something to say, though, when someone tries to assign rights to something the person in question doesn't own...

    Since ALL submissions to the contest become property of CBS, that's what happened here. Someone plagarized the work of a third party and submitted it in, thus theoretically assigning rights to the design to CBS that the person doing the assigning dodn't own - a pretty clear-cut case of infringement. CBS coulda been very liable if the design had won - luckily things were exposed in time for corrections to be made.

    As to the OP - well, I sense that part of the resolution was that public apology - either way, nice of you to man up and admit what you did - at least before further penalties struck.

    To the gentleman whose work was stolen - Kudos to you for your attitude about the whole thing - most designers I've known would br frothing at the mouth over this. Willing to sign over rights to CBS for no compensation - hey, whether or not that ship wins the contest, AFAIC you're a winner already, Kudos to you!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Callasan wrote: »
    To the gentleman whose work was stolen - Kudos to you for your attitude about the whole thing - most designers I've known would br frothing at the mouth over this.

    Oh, he did. He posted a thread yesterday(which was deleted) to name and shame the person who used his work, even though he had already contacted Cryptic privately. His attitude has improved considerably after getting put in his place yesterday.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Oh, he did. He posted a thread yesterday(which was deleted) to name and shame the person who used his work, even though he had already contacted Cryptic privately. His attitude has improved considerably after getting put in his place yesterday.

    Yeah, that thread was a fiasco from the get go.

    I didn't know somebody could copyright something based on sombody elses copyright.

    All that stuff is kinda-sorta confusing to me.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    DaveyNY wrote: »
    Yeah, that thread was a fiasco from the get go.

    I didn't know somebody could copyright something based on sombody elses copyright.

    All that stuff is kinda-sorta confusing to me.

    You cant. You can create a "spaceship" design and copyright that design, but it cant be called a "Star Trek" ship, or use any parts directly taken from existing Trek ships. That said, the author in question had not copyrighted his design. That doesnt make it ok to pass off someone else's work as your own, but it wasnt the legal issue he was saying it was.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    You cant. You can create a "spaceship" design and copyright that design, but it cant be called a "Star Trek" ship, or use any parts directly taken from existing Trek ships. That said, the author in question had not copyrighted his design. That doesnt make it ok to pass off someone else's work as your own, but it wasnt the legal issue he was saying it was.


    In the USA, the mere act of publishing a work grants copyright - you don't need to go before the Copyright Officve and fill out forms, though it does help if the matter goes to court. Read up on it here (WARNING: Heavy legalese there, that is the actual text of Article 17 of the US Code)

    Might want to rethink your statement - the original author had copyright the instant his work was made available to the publiic without any disclaimer.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    1234567890
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Callasan wrote: »
    In the USA, the mere act of publishing a work grants copyright - you don't need to go before the Copyright Officve and fill out forms, though it does help if the matter goes to court. Read up on it here (WARNING: Heavy legalese there, that is the actual text of Article 17 of the US Code)

    Might want to rethink your statement - the original author had copyright the instant his work was made available to the publiic without any disclaimer.

    If its not too much to ask, would you please quote the specific statements from those documents that prove what you said?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    If its not too much to ask, would you please quote the specific statements from those documents that prove what you said?

    Geeessss... I'm sorry I asked....
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    1234567890
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    If its not too much to ask, would you please quote the specific statements from those documents that prove what you said?

    It's pretty much written all over the www.copyright.gov website. Your work is automatically copyrighted from creation, it's just harder to prove in court if you don't register it. Here's a quick FAQ you can find in layman terms to explain it:

    http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#register
    And if you are into some light reading: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    ...................................
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Revlot wrote:
    What is this? People are unable to prove that private people own any part of Star Trek? Now I wonder why that is, perhaps because you do NOT own any part of Star Trek?

    ????HUH????

    I'm assuming that you just happened to leave my last post in there by mistake...

    I've NEVER claimed to own any part of Star Trek ... well...

    ...maybe the part where I've loved the IP since I was 9... that is Mine and You or CBS/Paramount can't have it...

    ...nayah...;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    It's pretty much written all over the www.copyright.gov website. Your work is automatically copyrighted from creation, it's just harder to prove in court if you don't register it. Here's a quick FAQ you can find in layman terms to explain it:

    http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#register
    And if you are into some light reading: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf

    As I told the author yesterday, which he simply wouldnt believe, including a read me file in his download is not a legal contract and without a registered copyright he couldnt sue person like he wanted to in his thread yesterday. To quote the FAQ you just posted:

    "Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
    No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work."
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    1234567890
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    yes and no.

    It has to be a paper published in a recognized publication and other requirements apply or the published whatever may fall into public domain.

    Gone are the days of the "postal" copyright.


    @OP, you didn't do in your excitement anything worse than the other 1000's of plagurized entries put in by fans wishing to see thier fave ship see the light of day.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    1234567890
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    If its not too much to ask, would you please quote the specific statements from those documents that prove what you said?


    Well, there are a LOT of specific areas covered byt Article 17 however, under the "Definitions" section prioor to article 101, you have:
    A work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time; where a work is prepared over a period of time, the portion of it that has been fixed at any particular time constitutes the work as of that time, and where the work has been prepared in different versions, each version constitutes a separate work.

    Basically, a work is "created" for the purposes of copyright when it is "fixed".

    "Fixing", again according to the Definitions section, is:
    A work is “fixed” in a tangible medium of expression when its embodiment in a copy or phonorecord, by or under the authority of the author, is sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration. A work consisting of sounds, images, or both, that are being transmitted, is “fixed” for purposes of this title if a fixation of the work is being made simultaneously with its transmission.

    i.e. when it's put into tangible form or "published".

    This is further confirmed in section 102, thus:
    § 102. Subject matter of copyright: In general28

    (a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following categories:

    (1) literary works;

    (2) musical works, including any accompanying words;

    (3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;

    (4) pantomimes and choreographic works;

    (5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;

    (6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;

    (7) sound recordings; and

    (8) architectural works.

    (b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.

    which lays it down. Copyright is granted when a work is "fixed" according to the definition of "fixed" above; when the work is put into tangible form. Ideas cannot be copyrighted, nor can various discoveries (those fall under trademark and patents, respectively) - just specific things.

    See what I'm saying now?
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