Fan Flicks In Jeopardy

Posted by Peter Smith
The BBC reports on how a group of German filmmakers operating under the name Damnatus recently had their fan feature based on the popular wargame Warhammer 40,000 nixed by the game's creators, Games Workshop. Even though the 110-minute feature was on Damnatus's website for free, Games Workshop felt that the filmmakers infringed on their intellectual copyright and denied them permission to show the feature anywhere.
 
This isn't the first time this has occurred. A Spanish fan adaptation of Dune by Mediteatro Productions was halted by lawyers from the Frank Herbert estate; the trailer was even pulled from YouTube. The filmmakers now have a petition going, though the last time I checked, it had only got six-hundred signatures. Given the rumours of a Peter-Berg-helmed adaptation, you can't blame the estate for being vigilant in safeguarding its intellectual property.
 
Fan filmmakers, though, point to two successful film franchises whose creators and copyright holders have been more flexible. George Lucas is more than happy for fans to make Star Wars spinoffs, and the best ones are usually to be found on Atom Films. Paramount seems to have no problem with the existence of Star Trek: New Voyages, a high-budget affair by Star Trek fans that has involved cast members from the original show. And the TV show Battlestar Galactica encouraged fan films to tie in with their series, even providing visual FX footage and sound effects from the show.
 
For the studios, Star Wars and Star Trek fan flicks are useful for keeping a fan base alive when there's nothing for them to throw on screen. But neither Games Workshop nor the Herbert estate have had the luxury of a long-running successful TV or film franchise, so perhaps it's understandable that they'd like to develop their own look and feel for their properties before fans beat them to it. — Faisal A. Qureshi 
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Posted Nov 12 2007, 03:00 PM
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Comments

eurrapanzy said:

i hate moral rights, with a fiery passion.  behind only the derivative right, they are my second least favorite exclusive right granted in any intellectual property regime.

November 12, 2007 11:50 PM

in