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Harlan Ellison claims victory in weird Star Trek case
The lawsuit between Harlan Ellison and CBS Paramount—in which the litigious and irascible writer accused the company of cheating him over a Star Trek episode—is over. Ellison filed in March 2009 against CBS Paramount, alleging failure to pay for merchandising, publishing and other exploitations of "The City on the Edge of Forever," an episode he wrote for the original Star Trek series, which first aired in April 1967.
Ellison conveyed the news on Harlanellison.com (specifically the Unca Harlan's Art Deco Dining Pavilion message board), but did not disclose any specifics, Variety reported.
"I am pleased with the outcome," Ellison said. Ellison, who filed the suit in March in federal court in Los Angeles, also sued the Writers Guild of America for its alleged failure to act on his behalf but sought only $1 in damages plus attorneys fees and court costs from the guild. CBS Paramount and the WGA had no comment.The suit accused CBS Par and the WGA of breaching the collective bargaining agreement and also accused the guild of breaching its duty of fair representation. The episode, which centered on time travel and starred Joan Collins, first aired in April 1967 and won the WGA teleplay award and a Hugo award.
Ellison's suit accused CBS Paramount of failing to notify him about the "Crucible" trilogy of books based on the teleplay and merchandising that included a "talking" Christmas ornament. (Even though Star Trek aired on NBC, CBS Paramount owns the rights to the franchise.)
And, so long as Ellison's getting his piece of the pie, and with the holidays around the corner ... maybe it's time to go shopping and pick up one of those (now legit?) Guardian of Forever talking Christmas ornaments?
By Grenadier at 2:42 PM ON 10/23/09
Good luck finding one of those ornaments. They're from 5 years ago and probably fairly rare at this point. As in you'll need to hit eBay, not your local Hallmark. Once again, SciFi Wire's fact checking leaving much to be desired.
By hermy at 2:50 PM ON 10/23/09
whether you like him or not.Harlan is always fighting for writer's to get there fair share of the pie.sure people will say a dollar?but it sets a legal precedent.that other writer mite have to use.good going Harlan for fighting the fights that other's don't have the stubbornness to fight for writer's
By critter42 at 3:19 PM ON 10/23/09
Correction: He only asked for $1 damages from the *Writer's Guild*. He was still asking for recovery of all lost income from CBS Paramount on CotEF merchandising
By smegforbrain at 5:22 PM ON 10/23/09
Until the next time he sues...
By wraithfodder42 at 5:42 PM ON 10/23/09
If writers didn't protect themselves from studios, no one would. He's not the first writer to sue, won't be the last.
By CheDak825 at 7:26 PM ON 10/23/09
Congrats, Harlan! Roddenberry is spining in his urn over this one! You finally got the last word on this!
By Gallowglass at 7:54 PM ON 10/23/09
It all depends upon the contract for the episode itself. Was it a straight write for pay or a prepared script 'sold' to Star Trek for which he kept control of all 'characters' written for that particular script.
Knowing Harlan even a little, I doubt Roddenberry is rolling around in his urn over his actions.
By SmartShopper at 9:52 PM ON 10/23/09
Grenadier, you can go shopping on eBay last time I looked.
By Tokrath at 8:10 AM ON 10/24/09
I would say it is very important and easy to over look fact that while Harlan does sue a lot he also wins most of them. That means that he has every right to get what he is going to court over.
A lot of the big corporations will try to pull things like this all the time. They expect that most people don't know their rights and won't do anything about it. Harlan knows his rights and expects that when they go out and do something to make money they give him a share of it because they are making it off his idea.
As for the the guild, people will mock the $1 he sued the guild over but the job they are in place to do is to protect the writers from this very thing. It is what the guild was created to do, it is what the members expect when they pay dues to them. The guild is in place to watch over the rights of the writers and if they don't then it can be over looked. He is trying to remind them of just what they are supposed to be doing not going after the guild to hurt them.
By Thomas at 11:37 PM ON 10/24/09
Perhaps he'll finally join the 21st century and write something new...
By MCP-001 at 11:43 AM ON 10/26/09
I'm waiting for Ellison to sue the pants off of the people who put together Star Trek: The New Voyages, over their episode, "In Harms Way".
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MCP-001:
I'm waiting for Ellison to sue the pants off of the people who put together Star Trek: The New Voyages, over their ...More »