Also, Ellison is not crying like he is poor. He is asking for what he is due.

It really doesn’t matter if it was five or fifty years. It’s still his writing.

And by-the-way, a good director, cast, camera man etc will not save a bad scipt. You cannot polish a turd as the old saying goes.

In this case, as stated in his contract, derivative works are being created that are playing on the popularity and awareness of the events in City on the Edge of Forever, using specific characters, locations and scenarios mentioned in that story. Without the clause in the contract, Paramount can let whoever they want write a story that spins off that episode. But the contract clearly states that if a story direclty spins off that story, he would get a cut of that.

I dont see why this is so hard to comprehend. They could easily have said, ‘we are paying for the story and what happens next is our decision and you don’t get paid for spinoffs’ but they didn’t. They agreed to the stipulations and now he is calling them on it.

Building your work on the shoulders of another person demands you give due credit or compensation. An agent making someone famous got paid to do it and DOES get a cut of whatever they earn them. Once they no longer represent that star, they stop getting paid. That is in their contract. Again, you presume too much.

And the Ellison/Terminator thing was an ‘acknowledgement to the works of’ credit on The Terminator and a cash settlement lest he sue for plagiarism, admitted without Ellison suing. They settled before hand due to the similarities of his Soldier and Glass Hand stories.

Also, know that if Ellison wins this, paramount will be dishing out the cash to him and the fans will not be paying for this at all. The cost of the books will remain the same, just the parties involved will be required to pay Harlon his cut.

Ellison is still very respected as a writer despite repeatedly standing up for himself in court. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that his lawsuits are not frivolous, and he is respected for defending writers rights.

Contract law is very specific, and the english language has not changed so much in 50 years that suddenly the contract has different meaning.

His contract clearly lays out that the story he is contributing to the Star Trek canon is theirs, however should further stories stem from these specific events then he would get a cut.

Really not much to interpret. Interpretation of the law is often when someone is performing a vague act and they have to decide if it qualifies. In contract law, either you did what it says or you didn’t. It’s pretty straight forward.

Most people who read a contract have angle that they WANT to move toward. It’s natural to see the holes in contracts from that aspect. The best attorneys are those that can see the opposite side and see how the fight will be fought.

Also, in my above comments, I never stated that Mr Ellison was a bad writer, in fact far from it. I am a fan. However, I hate it when these people cry like they are poor from all of their intellectual property is stolen!!! Puh—leez!

I agree that the story in question, “City on the Edge of Forever”, is not being remade, adapted or such, just that in some way being “spun off”.

If that’s the case, shouldn’t the Tolkein estate get a royalty anytime a orc, halfling, elf, or magic ring is used in fantasy literature? Frankly, should the Tolkein estate get royalties on ANY fantasy literature?

And for that matter should Ben Burtt receive a payment when you hear a wilhelm scream in a movie?
(The answer is NO, because he himself “appropriated” the sound effect from the movie “Distant Drums” (1951).

Does this mean that the Ehud Yonay (Look it up), should get a piece of Tom Cruise’s future movies because they helped make him a star? Or maybe the Navy should get a cut of him too? Maybe his parents should get a percentage since they “spawned” him (or was that Xenu?).

The point of all of this is, this isn’t like he wrote this for a series 5 years ago. It’s been over 50 years! By the way anyone read “The Soldier”? It’s a long way off from “The Terminator”, but does have similarities but then I’m sure that Mr Ellison believes he invented time travel as a plot device.

Also, please realize that if Mr Ellsion does win this “case”, it won’t be the companies who get less money it will be the writers who are doing the work to continue the story. So, indeed, it’s a case of biting the hand that feeds…

You should read some of the scripts floating around these days. No director or performer can save a badly written script.

Lol big Sampson SPARTA!!