doctor who copyright

spud · Sun 08/02/2004 16:44:55

i am trying to find out if i could make a doctor who game and if i need permision from the bbc.

Barcik · Sun 08/02/2004 19:17:51

Legally, you do. However, you can do the same many other folks around here do - not give a shit.

OsUltimo@TAFE · Mon 09/02/2004 05:20:20

Well, like Barcik said, you do legally need to have their permission if you were going to be making a game from it, that would be making money off of their trademarks and copyrighted images.

Many people here, because they are just making amatuer fan games for no profit (except personal joy, yay!), i'd say it'd be fine. Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth clearly has Harrison Ford on the title screen, but Screen 7 dont care... hell, I wouldn't...

But if you do seriously think of making a game based upon Doctor Who, I suggest you study the subject very carefully. Try not to screw up the mythos of the series, try not to stuff around with the characters (except the 6th doctor, set him on fire for all i care). For example, if you have the 3rd doctor, he would most likely be based on Earth working along with the Brigideer (sp?), and using gadgets with no knowledge of how to operate the Tardis (unless you base it after the Timelords returned his memory of its operation to him after saving Earth countless times).

Better yet, come up with your own doctor, but dont specify which regeneration it is, unless that is a vital plot-point, like it's his last and if he dies... he is dead forever, or something. Come up with his own attributes, his dress style, his mannerisms... but for the love of god, dont make a game where you play as Tom Baker (4th Doctor), as I believe no-one would like to see his version tainted, even if it is a good story. And dont make a Baker clone either...

*OsUltimo stops his drunken Doctor Who rants

*

Goldmund · Mon 09/02/2004 05:36:48

Oi! There's a very cool Doctor Who adventure game for C64!

He has a programmable cat in it. Who does all kinds of errands. And little controllers try to insert a screw into Doctor per rectum.

The funny thing is I played it having no idea who Doctor Who was and the whole experience was very obscure, tantalising... as was the case with all by-products of Western pop culture that somehow seeped behind the Iron Curtain.

Las Naranjas · Mon 09/02/2004 09:06:30

And make sure you don't do anything that spoils the mythos like making a character escape Daleks by climbing the stairs.

Sslaxx · Mon 09/02/2004 09:16:06

Quote from: spud on Sun 08/02/2004 16:44:55
i am trying to find out if i could make a doctor who game and if i need permision from the bbc.

The BBC has encouraged fanfics before (it held a competition about them), so you should be all right.

The rights to the show are a convuluted mess. The image of the Daleks, for example, belongs to the BBC, but the idea belongs to the Estate of Terry Nation. One is useless without the other, and this is resulting in problems for the production team of the new series. Amusingly enough, even Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart doesn't belong to the BBC!

Sslaxx · Mon 09/02/2004 10:00:29

Quote from: Las Naranjas on Mon 09/02/2004 09:06:30
And make sure you don't do anything that spoils the mythos like making a character escape Daleks by climbing the stairs.

Ever watched "Remembrance of the Daleks"...?

LordHart · Mon 09/02/2004 10:16:37

I'm guessing thats the one with the Daleks that had either the little hover platform they were on or the classic Sylvester McCoy episode where he ran up the stairs, thinking the dalek couldn't follow him and it ended up having a hover thingy installed on itself...

I just hope that with the new series, they dont have those stupid dalek men, who just had some stupid helmet and a crappy laser on their hands... they sucked.

If you want an original story for a game, make on about the doctors very first body (seriously, he's 800 years old or something by Tom Baker's generation, so he must of had some before William Hartnell, who had a human mother? AND was married at some point to have a grand-daughter!?!) when he stole a TARDIS and left Gallifrey... and then how he somehow forgot about his many other regenerations...

Goldmund · Mon 09/02/2004 13:25:45

Trying to solve the burning enigma of what the hell this game was about at one point I came to the conclusion that Doctor Who stands for a doctor of World Health Organisation. I was thirteen.

I know I'm tormenting you with my memories, but check it out, the cat had a really neat program gui. You can get the game at http://www.lemon64.com.

Phemar · Mon 09/02/2004 13:55:35

Hectic! I'm 13 and i just learned from you that doctor who stands for a doctor of World Health Organisation!

You learn something coincedental everyday!

Goldmund · Mon 09/02/2004 14:05:25

Maybe it is hectic, Zor, yet I doubt that this explanation of doctor's name was a right conclusion.

Meowster · Mon 09/02/2004 15:31:19

I remember reading one story where he was about to tell that Ian... or was it Betty?... his name, and he said, "Okay, my name is..." And then a DALEK came in.

Not very interesting trivia: When I was six, I called Daleks, 'Garlics'.

Also, as regards copyright... well, George Lucas and Steven Spielburg use the whole Indy concept, and Screen 7 haven't reproached them for it yet, so I'd say you're safe.ish.

Sslaxx · Mon 09/02/2004 22:55:15

Quote from: Os Ãšltimo QuÃ£o Queijo ^_^ on Mon 09/02/2004 10:16:37
I'm guessing thats the one with the Daleks that had either the little hover platform they were on or the classic Sylvester McCoy episode where he ran up the stairs, thinking the dalek couldn't follow him and it ended up having a hover thingy installed on itself...

Yup, it's the Sylvester McCoy story. Apparently, they were going to have floating Daleks in Revelation too.

LordHart · Wed 11/02/2004 01:17:46

They named the series Doctor Who because he is only ever refered to as The Doctor. You never learn his name, and everyone, including his former teachers and professors on Galifrey (his homeworld) call him The Doctor.

So if you want to really truly understand the name of the show, add a question mark... Doctor, Who?

Plus, after William Hartnell, the first Doctor was stepped down from the role, the meaning took on a whole new level, and then they continued to have a new doctor whenever the actor wanted to retire from the role. I believe Tom Baker had the role for 7 years, which is the most out of them all, unless you count Sylvester McCoy who was the 7th doctor, and the last so far when the series was cancelled. I'm not counting the 8th doctor, because he was simply not apart of the series... same goes for Peter Cushing who was the Doctor in two "Dalek" movies, during the time that Jon Pertwee was the doctor...

*OsUltimo ends his drunken Doctor Who rant*

Las Naranjas · Wed 11/02/2004 01:41:29

I believe in the first episode [which the ABC showed a few months ago] there's a dumb "I'm the Dr" "Dr who?" style exchange as well.

LordHart · Wed 11/02/2004 02:13:27

Yeah, i believe they added that so that the audience would understand that HE was the title character...

Klytos · Sat 14/02/2004 09:00:14

>>>same goes for Peter Cushing who was the Doctor in two "Dalek" >>>movies, during the time that Jon Pertwee was the doctor...

Ah, sorry but the Cushing movies were filmed in 1965 and 1966, putting them firmly into the William Hartnel 1st Doctor era. Jon Pertwee didn't start playing the Doctor till 1970.

As for the argument that the BBC wouldn't care if you used their characters, I can't say I'd agree with that. Firstly, there's a new series in production so I can't see how they'd not care about exploitation of their trademarks. Secondly, all non-BBC options of the movies and new tv series have expired so it's all firmly under the control of the Beeb again, not in various places like Amblin etc. Thirdly, the beeb DID hold competitions for fan-fic etc, but if you read the small print they retained copyright of anything which was sent to them.

remixor · Sat 14/02/2004 09:28:23

A better question than "do they care?" might be "will they notice?"

Sslaxx · Sat 14/02/2004 10:34:04

Quote from: remixor on Sat 14/02/2004 09:28:23
A better question than "do they care?" might be "will they notice?"

RTD (the new series producer) is a fan, so I'd be surprised if he doesn't know of the existence of "Doctor Who" fanfic. Whether or not he'd get the BBC to do anything about it is another question. And Outpost Gallifrey has several BBC staffers on it. Spud, are you on OG? Asking there might be productive, too (try asking Justin Richards - I do believe he posts there, he is the BBC Books range editor).

That said, as the BBC is anything but the monolith it may seem, what may be a valid answer from one part of the organisation may not be from another...

doctor who copyright

OsUltimo@TAFE