Re: An Open Plea to Mr Straczynski, or Anyone Else Who Cares

Excuse my ignorance here but as I recall from previous conversations posted
here that JMS does not own B5. He may have created it, he may have wrote
most of it, but he does not own it. That is done by the WB. Therefore if the
WB for some reason says it is ok to print these books, then they can get
printed. Since JMS is saying, as I see it, that they don't know about this
project, is this entire production what we would call copywrite inflingment?
Therefore I fail to see the problem. If they guys print the books without
permission, the WB calls in the lawyers and stops it.

That is my official question, the rest are things running around in my own
mind that I like to share with the rest of you.

First, is there anyone here as cynical as me to think this whole long
running excercise in retoric is a cheap ad campaign for these books?

Second, after reading this stuff, is there anyone here who would actually
want to go out and buy these books?

Third, even if JMS does not own B5, does he not own his own notes,
unpublished scripts, or other work hereto not produced in some format under
the WB copywrite? If so how can they take his work as a basis for
publication without his permission?

Fourth, I got this great idea for a B5 story about how the giant space slug
Urgo swallows the Minbari homeworld, anyone interested?

CJW


<jmsatb5@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1148191288.947002.4120@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Matthew Sprange wrote:
Hello to all.

I would like to start by saying that I am very, very sorry to have to
conduct any sort of discussion in this manner. I feel I have been forced
to
do so because Mr Straczynski has not answered any of our direct emails
for
some time.

No, that is not the case. This is public because you have been making
public claims about my involvement, which led fans of B5 to ask me
about it in a public manner, to which I responded.

From our perspective, there is nothing we would like
better than to be on speaking terms with Mr Straczynski, whose work we
have
the deepest admiration for and, indeed, we have been immersed within for
the
past four years.

Funny way of showing it.

I fully understand that Mr Straczynski may be unaware of the processes
involved in the approval process at Warner Brothers for publishers such
as
ourselves, particularly after the recent changes in their procedures.

I have been dealing with B5 licensees for ten years. I think I
understand the system, which has not changed overmuch.

However, everything (and I mean _everything_) we publish or manufacture
for
Babylon 5 is approved by Warner Brothers, via their Burbank offices.

Curious, since on contacting some of the folks at WB licensing they
don't seem to be aware of any recent submissions for approval.

Let;s bury the hatchet and begin
to work together, as I have a feeling our goals are much the same. The
Babylon 5 fans are still out there. Let us do something great together
for
them.

More on this in a minute.

Let me be clear: I have provided no outlines for novels to Mongoose.
Nor are there any outlines of episodes beyond what was shot plus the
two scripted but not shot episodes. There ARE no outlines to which
they could have had access. So this is false.

In your reply below, you do not address your statement that you had
outlines by me. To say that you had scripts, about also which more in
a moment, and say "well, these are the outlines I was referring" is
disingenuous at best. An outline is an outline and a script is a
script. Unless one wishes to deliberately confuse the two to create
the impression of involvement.

We have access to three scripts, which we were planning to use as the
basis
of the first Crusade novel, and a collection of notes collated mostly
from
things you have said yourself.

So you were planning to use my scripts, without so much as informing
me, and pillage my notes online, which are incidentally my property, as
the basis for your novels.

Lovely.

There has, to date, been _no_ direct
planning for Crusade beyond this.

Which is not what you said on your website, or in the interview.

It is something we would very much like
to do, but the first step was to round off the open end of the televised
Crusade episodes.

Meaning by adapting my scripts, without telling me. Are you aware that
when someone adapts someone else's scripts there generally has to be
some kind of arrangement made, plus something as cordial as, oh, I
don't know...telling the person who wrote those scripts that you're
DOING it?

There are larger implications for the B5 timeline with
regards to Crusade, and it is something we would like to see rounded off
as
a whole because of the effect on continuity. However, this is a longer
term
plan and is something we would very much like to involve yourself with.

More later.

You cannot have less input than zero input. I have had zero input
into
these novels. So to say there is less now means that there was some
before. Soi this is also false.

I believe I am right in saying that the quote was made with regards to
Babylon 5 projects as a whole, rather than the novels specifically.


No, actually, you are wrong, because the question was asked of you
concerning the novels, not the B5 projects as a whole. You again
dissembled, just as you are attempting to do here.

So, I would like to make an open plea. We would very much like to
re-open
lines of communication with you, Mr Straczynski. We stand by everything
we
have done for Babylon 5 thus far, and would be more than happy to explain
it
to you, as we see it ourselves. We would like to bring you on board for
the
novels and the other projects that are being planned and, if possible,
would
like to commission you for original work on them.

I believe we could have resolved all of this a long time ago if there had
simply been better communication and understanding on both sides.

Such as, for instance, informing me that you were rummaging through my
scripts and online posts for your material without telling me...?

I can understand how the situation must seem to you

I rather doubt that.

and I ask you to try to
understand how things are for us. I believe there is a common ground
and,
as I said, that our goals are likely similar. At the end of the day, we
are
a company of nice people who are passionate about Babylon 5 and wish to
provide fans of the series with a service we can all be proud of.

I am willing to email you this evening, or give you a call. We would be
happy to fly you to England, at our expense of course, to bring you to
our
offices and show you, face-to-face, just what it is we are doing, how we
are
doing it and where we hope to go. If, after that, you believe we are on
the
wrong track, we would be happy to sit down and bring your ideas front and
centre.


Let me make something as clear as I possibly can.

This is not about money, not about The Deal, not about a free trip to
England.

First, this is about being honest with the fans. I have worked very
hard, since the very inception of Babylon 5, to always be as straight
as humanly possible with them, because the one thing about the truth is
that it always comes out, one way or another. Everything I say is
archived...if I prevaricate, if I lie, if I misrepresent, those words
are sitting there, waiting to be used as a bludgeon...a blunt
instrument that I willingly created for that very reason.

To date they have not been used in that way. Because I have always
been as straight with the fans as anyone mortal can be. Even when the
darkest hours came, and very few would believe me about how and why
Claudia left, time passed and sure enough the words I posted online
were shown to be true by her own comments made in the aftermath,
sometimes years later.

My involvement with the so-called B5 novels from Mongoose has been
mis-stated and misrepresented, and the conduct of pillaging my scripts
and posts without my knowledge or permission is dubious at best,
dishonorable at worst.

Second, and most important of all...this is about what drove the
creation of Babylon 5 in the first place: an attempt to ensure a
certain quality of storytelling within the framework of a consistent
universe. The first Dell books were not what they should have been
because they tended to operate outside canon; so steps were taken to
bring the Del Rey books into canon, working closely with the publisher,
and the fans across the board agree that those novels were better than
those which preceded them.

That is how we have dealt with every single licensee to date...with the
exception of this situation, and these books, which brings to mind the
following point:

You have also stated that these books are "100% canon." No, they are
not. Because for something to be canon means not that they have been
researched, but that the events described therein will be referenced
elsewhere, that they will be viewed as "having happened" in the B5
universe...as the Del Rey novels, and my own short B5 stories, are
canon. Things referenced in those stories can show up in any future B5
films or TV projects because they *happened* in our story, in this
universe.

The events in the Mongoose books do not fit this criteria. They are
licensed B5 fan fiction, nothing more, nothing less. And lots of folks
like that stuff, and that's all to the good.

But do not say that they are "100% canon."

And I have no desire to become involved with these novels, and will not
endorse them. It ain't the money, it ain't the Deal...I am for rent,
but I am not for sale, because I have an obligation to the viewers of
this show to be consistent and to always work for the utmost quality in
our storytelling within the framework of a consistent universe.

If you want to create a pocket universe, feel free. But it's got
nothing to do with the B5 universe insofar as I am concerned.

And leave my scripts and my notes out of it. I do not approve their
use.

This conversation is at an end.

jms

message content (c) 2006
Synthetic Worlds, ltd.
permission to reprint denied







.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: An Open Plea to Mr Straczynski
    ... Babylon 5 is approved by Warner Brothers, ... Babylon 5 fans are still out there. ... So you were planning to use my scripts, ... Babylon 5 projects as a whole, rather than the novels specifically. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated)
  • Re: So whats the new book series?
    ... The Babylon 5 scripts team has informed us that on May 13 a new series ... it's not the Crusade scripts. ... Answered" and we're not sure yet how many books it well be as editing is still ...
    (rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated)
  • Re: So whats the new book series?
    ... The Babylon 5 scripts team has informed us that on May 13 a new series ... Answered" and we're not sure yet how many books it well be as editing is still ... to Arms movie and the Crusade episodes. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated)
  • Re: So whats the new book series?
    ... The Babylon 5 scripts team has informed us that on May 13 a new series ... Answered" and we're not sure yet how many books it well be as editing is still ... to Arms movie and the Crusade episodes. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated)
  • Re: So whats the new book series?
    ... The Babylon 5 scripts team has informed us that on May 13 a new series ... it's not the Crusade scripts. ... Answered" and we're not sure yet how many books it well be as editing is still ...
    (rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated)