Subtleties in plagiarism
T. Backman
Here's a question I've been looking to ask for a while now.
I've several friends who pass the time writing science fiction.
Many of these writers are continually looking to name technologies
they imagine or envision for use in their stories.
Does the use of a word coined by another author constitue an
act of plagiarism?
For instance, Billy Gibson is famed for his coining of the
word 'cyberspace,' yet the word has safely and seemingly without
complaint leaked not only into modern usage, but into advertising.
Is this a shield against plagiarism; the common usage of a word?
Or can the use of a single word ever constitute an act
of plagiarism?
Or is there even a conclusive answer?
[[[[[]]]]][[[[[[[]]]]]][[[[[[]]]]]][[[[[]]]]]]][[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]
[[ "...for whenever men are right [[ mobmuse ]]
]] they are not young." - e.e.c. ]] @u.washington.edu [[
[[[[[[[]]]]]][[[[[[[]]]]][[[[[[]]]]]][[[[[[]]]]]][[[[[]]]]][[[[
Marla J Sturdy
As far as I know, it's not plagiarism to use a word coined by another
author unless it's been trademarked. Individual words can't be
copyrighted just like titles can't. I could be wrong - best bet is to go
get a copy of copyright law at a library.
Marla J. Sturdy
Robert Mathews
: I've several friends who pass the time writing science fiction.
: Many of these writers are continually looking to name technologies
: they imagine or envision for use in their stories.
:
: Does the use of a word coined by another author constitue an
: act of plagiarism?
: For instance, Billy Gibson is famed for his coining of the
: word 'cyberspace,' yet the word has safely and seemingly without
: complaint leaked not only into modern usage, but into advertising.
If people could copyright every word and name of characters in
novels, then soon, every word in the dictionary would be copyrighted and
illegal to use by others, and every conceivable name of characters that
you could think of would be copyrighted in turn.
I would lay even money that in 10 years, the word 'cyberspace'
coined by Billy Gibson, will start to appear in English dictionaries. The
same as the words 'transistor', and 'diode' have appeared in the dictionary
after those words were created when those electronic components first
started to be used. The entire English language, itself, is made up of
words coined by common people like you or me, after those words caught on
and started to get used widespread.
-- Rob
JMingo
: act of plagiarism?
No. However, if it is a recent and/or an uncommon word or phrase, and you
know who coined it, it is considered good form to tip your hat to the
author in the text; e.g.,
"Late at night, when all the GTO relays line up right across the
electronic landscape, you find yourself hurtling through cyberspace in
what Bertrand Russell once called 'the toggleswitchness of the
electrinow.'"
Jack (Wasn't that Russell? Maybe it was William James then) Mingo
John Camp
>
>
>
> Here's a question I've been looking to ask for a while now.
> I've several friends who pass the time writing science fiction.
> Many of these writers are continually looking to name technologies
> they imagine or envision for use in their stories.
>
> act of plagiarism?
>
> word 'cyberspace,' yet the word has safely and seemingly without
> complaint leaked not only into modern usage, but into advertising.
>
> Or can the use of a single word ever constitute an act
> of plagiarism?
>
>
> Or is there even a conclusive answer?
>
are commonly done), anyone can still use them in writing or speech;
there's nothing McDonald's can do if you say in a piece of fiction,
"I went into a McDonald's and got a Quarter-Pounder." In fact there's a
fairly famous song (the name of which i cannot recall) about a guy
dealing dope from a booth in a Denny's, which would be a very negative
connotion for a restaurant chain...
But there are some other kinds of plagiarism which are actionable,
and which don't even involve the copying of words...for example, if
some guy writes a book review for New Yorker, and you rewrite it,
using different words by following the form and ideas, you can find
yourself in court...
One place where you can get in trouble with very short phrases are
with music, which is heavily guarded. You must get permission for
even very short snatches of song...
JC
Martha Conway
>"Late at night, when all the GTO relays line up right across the
>electronic landscape, you find yourself hurtling through cyberspace in
>what Bertrand Russell once called 'the toggleswitchness of the
>electrinow.'"
>
>Jack (Wasn't that Russell? Maybe it was William James then) Mingo
I believe it was Dudley Moore.
(steals from the rich, gives nighttrain to the poor)
Martha Conway
con...@ced.berkeley.edu
MissAndree
Does the use of a word coined by another author constitue an act of
plagiarism?
Even if someone holds a Trademark for a word or name (both of which
are commonly done), anyone can still use them in writing or speech;
there's nothing McDonald's can do if you say in a piece of fiction,
"I went into a McDonald's and got a Quarter-Pounder."
I used to work for the press and the general rule was: the first
brand-name ever, for any item/product etc. may be used in writing without
any lawsuits resulting. For instance, Vaseline; Kleenex; Coke in reference
to cola, but not Pepsi. You may, without fear, use "Quarter-Pounder",
since this 'food-product' did not exist before McDonald's named it. You
may also use "McDonald's" but if one of your characters should suffer from
food-poisining, the golden arches people may decide to sue you. It is then
up to the company to decide whether or not you have done their good name
justice, though they will rarely bother spending all those good dollars in
order to prove that you haven't.
Now, about writers: William Gibson did not invent Cyberspace, he merely
named it. The word is fair game. However if you are talking about a
"Clear-Voyer," the nifty gadget which you attach to your TV in order to be
able to literally see your future, it would be best not to use the word,
but if you do, credit its inventor. Otherwise, nothing can prevent me from
*attempting* to sue your ass.
MissAndree
Alexander von Thorn
<Pine.A32.3.91j.95052...@mead1.u.washington.edu>, "T.
Backman" <mob...@u.washington.edu> wrote:
> Does the use of a word coined by another author constitue an
> act of plagiarism?
There are two issues here. The legal issue, of course, should be referred
to lawyers. I know there is more to worry about than simple trademark
issues, e.g. see what the Tolkein estate says when you try to write about
"hobbits". But this is a rather narrow problem, usually easy to avoid.
The other issue, far more important to most writers I think, is one of
critical (or reader) impression. I believe you *do* have to be careful
following too closely in the footsteps of another writer. Even if
something is not actionable, there can be a real danger of appearing
unoriginal, or worse, cliche. This is a very nebulous area, hard to
discuss except on a case-by-case basis.
> For instance, Billy Gibson is famed for his coining of the
> word 'cyberspace,' yet the word has safely and seemingly without
> complaint leaked not only into modern usage, but into advertising.
Do people really call him "Billy"?
--
AvT
Thorbjorn Nilsson
<Pine.A32.3.91j.95052...@mead1.u.washington.edu>, "T.
Backman" <mob...@u.washington.edu> wrote:
(snip)
>
> Does the use of a word coined by another author constitue an
> act of plagiarism?
>
> For instance, Billy Gibson is famed for his coining of the
> word 'cyberspace,' yet the word has safely and seemingly without
> complaint leaked not only into modern usage, but into advertising.
>
> Is this a shield against plagiarism; the common usage of a word?
> Or can the use of a single word ever constitute an act
> of plagiarism?
>
(snip)
Didn't Isaac Asimov's word "credits" for an intergalactic currency make it
into all sorts of sf books? In a way this sort of "plagiarism" can also be
seen as e.g. the sf community paying homage to one in their own group who
was the first to come up with an expression for something that you
afterwards can't conceive being called anything else. (I know it's
meandering sentence, it probably isn't grammatically correct ‹ but I know
what I mean ;))
Thorbjorn
MissAndree
"T. Backman" <mob...@u.washington.edu wrote,
> Now, about writers: William Gibson did not invent Cyberspace, he merely
> named it. The word is fair game. However if you are talking about a
> "Clear-Voyer," the nifty gadget which you attach to your TV in order to
be
> able to literally see your future, it would be best not to use the word,
> but if you do, credit its inventor. Otherwise, nothing can prevent me
from
> *attempting* to sue your ass.
> MissAndree
>
>
My question wasn't about trademarks (...)
-----
Before you replied to my answer, perhaps you should actually have read
it...Especially since you pasted it into your reply. I am so sorry that I
gave you information about trademarks: far be it from me to provide
information which has not been specifically requested!
Let me rephrase what I said: *yes* it's wrong; *yes* it's plagiarism;
*yes* you can get in deep shit by using words coined by other authors.
Besides, why would you want to?
MissAndree
JMingo
>Herr Gibson _did_ coin `cyberspace,' though
>he didn't trademark it. He could have, I'm told,
>and have made a mint.
Probably not a mint. Probably not much, actually. And what he got, and
probably more, he would spend on lawyers sending form letters to magazines
and newspapers asking them not to use "cyberspace" as a generic term. Take
it from a man who had to try to defend "Couch Potato" as a trademark.
He wouldn't make much because the money comes from commercial use of the
name. How many products incorporate the term "cyberspace" into their name?
Not too many. And of the ones that do--if Cyberspace tm were a trademarked
term, they would find or coin some other term that wouldn't cost them
royalties.
The term "cyberspace" has gotten such wide circulation to have become a
cliche only because it is free of trademark encumbrances. If had been
trademarked we'd be beating another term to death right now instead.
Jack (hyperocean or cybertincanswithstring or something) Mingo
T. Backman
> Now, about writers: William Gibson did not invent Cyberspace, he merely
> named it. The word is fair game. However if you are talking about a
> "Clear-Voyer," the nifty gadget which you attach to your TV in order to be
> able to literally see your future, it would be best not to use the word,
> but if you do, credit its inventor. Otherwise, nothing can prevent me from
> *attempting* to sue your ass.
> MissAndree
>
>
My question wasn't about trademarks (I did time in the deadline
trenches as well). But specifically, words coined by an author; words that
do not have marketing ties. Herr Gibson _did_ coin `cyberspace,' though he
didn't trademark it. He could have, I'm told, and have made a mint. What
I _really_ want to know (especially from working agents or publishers) is
whether words coined by authors (i.e. Interzone - W. Burroughs) if reused
by another author looking to create continuity with the technologies/ideas/
concepts already established constitutes an act of plagiarism.
JMingo
>Let me rephrase what I said: *yes* it's wrong;
>*yes* it's plagiarism; *yes* you can get in deep
>shit by using words coined by other authors.
>Besides, why would you want to?
Because EVERY word has been coined by SOMEBODY. So, what, you want to have
to invent a completely new language?
Jack (Can anybody remember who coined "robot"? Czech guy: Kapok or
something?) Mingo
zn...@teleport.com
: Because EVERY word has been coined by SOMEBODY. So, what, you want to have
: to invent a completely new language?
: Jack (Can anybody remember who coined "robot"? Czech guy: Kapok or
: something?) Mingo
Karel Capek, in the play "Rossum's Universal Robots" (commonly known as
"R.U.R")
M. Edward ("Is you is or is you ain't my baby?") Borasky
--
zn...@teleport.COM (M. Edward Borasky)
How to Stop A Folksinger Cold # 1
"Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play..."
The antelope cheats.
Fred Welden
You are guilty of plagiarism if you knowingly present the words or ideas
of another as your own.
If you want to use cyberspace, the Interzone, or the Starship Enterprise
in your work, you will not be guilty of plagiarism so long as you cite
their creators. For example, you could put an author's note at the
front saying
I am indebted to William Gibson for his coining of the word
"cyberspace" to refer to full-sensory interfaces to data structures,
to William S. Burroughs for the term "Interzone" . . .
and so on.
Some parties from whom you appropriate words or ideas may have a legal
interest in them that goes beyond plagiarism into copyright or trademark
infringement, in which case you may get sued anyway--but you won't be
guilty of plagiarism.
--Fred | sas...@dobo.unx.sas.com
David Luoto
> Jack (Can anybody remember who coined "robot"? Czech guy: Kapok or
> something?) Mingo
Close: Karel Capek is the playwright you're thinking of. (That's "Capek"
with one of those inverted hats over the "C". The Czechs are so fond of
those...)
Polly Perryman
>T. Backman (mob...@u.washington.edu) wrote:
>
>
>> Here's a question I've been looking to ask for a while now.
>> I've several friends who pass the time writing science fiction.
>> Many of these writers are continually looking to name technologies
>> they imagine or envision for use in their stories.
>>
>> act of plagiarism?
>
>> For instance, Billy Gibson is famed for his coining of the
>> word 'cyberspace,' yet the word has safely and seemingly without
>> complaint leaked not only into modern usage, but into advertising.
>>
>> Is this a shield against plagiarism; the common usage of a word?
>> Or can the use of a single word ever constitute an act
>> of plagiarism?
>
>
>>
>
>
>
>>
>> [[ "...for whenever men are right [[ mobmuse ]]
>> ]] they are not young." - e.e.c. ]] @u.washington.edu [[
>> [[[[[[[]]]]]][[[[[[[]]]]][[[[[[]]]]]][[[[[[]]]]]][[[[[]]]]][[[[
>
>author unless it's been trademarked. Individual words can't be
>copyrighted just like titles can't. I could be wrong - best bet is to go
>get a copy of copyright law at a library.
>
>Marla J. Sturdy
>
have a character in your novel meet a character from someone
else's novel. For instances, an agent in the service of the
queen could have worked with 007 in the past, aspire to
surpass,007's reputation, etc. Author approval is a
professinal courtesy.
Polly (promoting character recognition in all fields) Perryman
Wendy Chatley Green
: JMingo (jmi...@aol.com) wrote:
: : Because EVERY word has been coined by SOMEBODY. So, what, you want to have
: : to invent a completely new language?
:
: : something?) Mingo
Isn't Kapok the filling inside canvas-covered life jackets?
Do we have to call the Trademark Police now that Jack has
inadvertently used this word?
Wendy (Can we have a Summer Soltice)
Chatley (sacrifice without him?)
Green -- wcg...@cris.com
Lavina
>>Herr Gibson _did_ coin `cyberspace,' though
And Jack added:
>The term "cyberspace" has gotten such wide circulation to have become a
>cliche only because it is free of trademark encumbrances. If had been
>trademarked we'd be beating another term to death right now instead.
>
>Jack (hyperocean or cybertincanswithstring or something) Mingo
In an interview in a Vancouver paper yesterday (not sure if it was
a 'local' interview), Gibson says of coining cyberspace"
"There was actually an evening where I sat at the typewriter typing
dataspace, and then infospace, and then, no, cyberspace. Hmmm, that
might slide."
I really must read Gibson's work someday...
Cheers!
-Lavina
MissAndree
(...) *yes* you can get in deep
>shit by using words coined by other authors.
>Besides, why would you want to?
Because EVERY word has been coined by SOMEBODY. So, what, you want to have
to invent a completely new language?
Good point...I am getting in deeper and deeper, I realize, but the
original post (so long ago now) had to do with using not just a word but a
concept invented/developped by someone else. What I object to is the fact
that a writer would want to use another's vision: there are writers who do
invent a new language, and it seems to me wrong that another one should
cash in on this. I would not use hobbits as characters in my work, though
the word itself might come up.
-Andree
Rick Johnston
and so on.
-- Rick Johnston
"Hey! This plagiarism stuff is easy!"
Rick Johnston
Hound of Cullen
<lgalb...@pfc.forestry.ca> wrote:
> I really must read Gibson's work someday...
>
> Cheers!
> -Lavina
Just read _Neuromancer and his collection of short fiction _Burning
_Chrome. The rest of his books vary from mediocre to downright bad.
Hound (knocking those cyber-icons) of Cullen
Rick Johnston
<snip>
>: : something?) Mingo
It's also a gaudy restaurant in Clearwater, Florida (The Kapok Tree). Named after, of all
things, a Kapok tree.
-- Rick Johnston
"Don't sit under the Kapok tree ... with anyone else but me ..."
Sally Harlow
>
> Jack (Can anybody remember who coined "robot"? Czech guy: Kapok or
> something?) Mingo
Wasn't the robot a labour service owed by serfs to the feudal overlord in
Austria-Hungary (which included the present day Czech & Slovak replublics)?
--
Sally Harlow
B.Attah
This is all very well, but commonsense tells me that I cannot possibly
credit every coinage that I haven't invented. Perhaps I could add to
my author's note:
Please refer to the Oxford English Dictionary (xth Edition) for the
sources of any words I have used here that are not invented by me.
If there are any neologisms that are not my original work that are not
also the OED, they will probably turn up in some future edition.
If not, then my sincere apologies are extended to the inventors of these
words and phrases.
Perhaps, on the other hand, I could take it for granted that people know
that I didn't invent most of the words I am using. If I make passing
reference to the SS Enterprise in my short story, I think it is reasonable
to assume that the reader knows that this is a spacecraft from the Star
Trek television series, devised by some bloke whose ashes are now floating
in space. No reasonable person would even pretend to believe that I was
making the implicit claim that "SS Enterprise" was my original idea.
I think a guiding principle that would probably work would be that if an
author felt obliged to explain the meaning of a word to the reader, he or
she might be wise to mention who invented it if not themselves and if the
word is not a dictionary word. Otherwise, forget this crediting the
inventor thing. After all, it's no big achievement to invent a word, one-
year-olds do it all the time.
my opinions, only, of course.
--
==============================================================================
Bruce Attah. |
B.A...@wlv.ac.uk |
==============================================================================
Kathy Vincent
: In <D9I2q...@yew.pfc.forestry.ca>, Lavina <lgalb...@pfc.forestry.ca> writes:
: > >"T. Backman" wrote:
: > >>Herr Gibson _did_ coin `cyberspace,' though
: >
: >And Jack added:
: >>The term "cyberspace" has gotten such wide circulation to have become a
: >>cliche only because it is free of trademark encumbrances. If had been
: >>trademarked we'd be beating another term to death right now instead.
: I can't provide the cite, although Loren MacGregor probably can, but I
: believe one of the large software companys trademarked "cyberspace."
: Whereupon Gibson trademarked the name of the president of that
: company.
Well, where the heck is Loren, then? I want to hear how this story
came out. Or has it been resolved yet? (Loren? Where are you?)
--
Kathy Vincent
vinc...@wfu.edu | un...@wrddo.att.com
Gerald M. Duryee
Jean de La Bruyere, 1688
Patricia Masserman
>If I make passing
>reference to the SS Enterprise in my short story, I think it is reasonable
>to assume that the reader knows that this is a spacecraft from the Star
>Trek television series, devised by some bloke whose ashes are now floating
>in space. No reasonable person would even pretend to believe that I was
>making the implicit claim that "SS Enterprise" was my original idea.
It wasn't their original idea, either. The Enterprise was a Navy ship
first, a destroyer, I believe, or a carrier of some sort. You must be
thinking of the "USS Enterprise." Don't you remember ST:IV? They were
stealing nuclear power from the original Enterprise, which was docked in
Sausalito?
Reid Goldsborough
: Just read _Neuromancer and his collection of short fiction _Burning
: _Chrome. The rest of his books vary from mediocre to downright bad.
One of many ironies here is that Gibson is totally unwired. He doesn't
even have a modem. Says he has no desire to get online with all of
America.
Reid Goldsborough~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~reid...@netaxs.com
Computer columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer
Author of the book Straight Talk About the Information Superhighway
Places to read parts of Straight Talk About the Information Superhighway:
* Satore Township. Point your Web browser at
http://www.crl.com/~mikekell/reid.html
* Macmillan Information SuperLibrary. Point your Web browser at
http://www.mcp.com/, then click or choose Alpha.
To order the book, phone Macmillan Publishing at 800-428-5331.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JMingo
>The Enterprise was a Navy ship
>first, a destroyer, I believe, or a carrier of some sort.
An aircraft carrier, at one time the world's largest ocean-going anything.
Jack (except, of course, Antarctica) Mingo
Loren Joseph MacGregor
>
> Jack (Can anybody remember who coined "robot"? Czech guy: Kapok or
> something?) Mingo
Karl Capek, in his play "Rossum's Universal Robots."
Now ask me why I remember that.
-- LJM
Dave Gardner
You'd have to be careful on assuming that your reader would "know" what
you are talking about anyway... because the "Enterprise" was (I believe)
a 3-mast schooner back in the 1700's--1800's (or was it a man-o-war?)...
Then, the name was given to a U.S. aircraft carrier (perhaps some earlier
ships as well). Then NASA named their first Space Shuttle (the test
version--never made it into space--only for landing practice) the Enterprise,
much to the delight and dismay of Trekkies (they were delighted that NASA
chose to name a Shuttle "Enterprise" but they were dismayed that the
"Enterprise" would never see space duty). And, there have been sightings
of a huge yacht in the Carribean--mostly in the Virgin Islands and near
Puerto Rico--named the "Enterprise IV" (which leads me to believe that
there may have been 3 previous Enterprises before this version) And
yes, I'm aware of "who" owns and operates that particular yacht--It's not
pertinent here on this newsgroup and I don't care to get sucked into a
discussion on the pros and cons of that. It's enough to say that I have
a chance to take a cruise on that yacht--and if you know "who" owns it,
you'll know "why" I've got that opportunity.
Anyway (back from the sidetrack), if you bring in an "Enterprise" from
a StarTrek perspective--and you assume that your reader will "know" this--
then you are bringing in all the baggage that the Star Trek series has
already established as well. This may play havoc with your story as well
as irritate the Trekkie lawyers who may not want you playing free and
loose with their "characters" and "proprietary situations" etc. ... not
that they can make anything stick with stuff so ethereal and amorphous,
but that they would make life very complicated...
I've got a story going on my home computer at the moment that sort of gets
close to some other stories I've seen since I started the thing...
It's frustrating--because I believe I had these ideas and the story line
long before those other things came out--but I'm starting to move my
story into a different area to avoid looking too much like the "competition."
Another frustration is that I had been basing much of my story on
science as I thought I was familiar with it, and then, I just saw a
news article in the local paper that quoted scientists who have made
a discovery about the same situation which sort of negates much of
what I've been writing. Aaaaaaaargh!
Welp. Gotta run. Let's see how enterprising we can all be! Back to
the keyboards, folks.
Cheers
Dave (at least they didn't call it the "Golden Hinde"!) Gardner
Hinde sight is always 20-20; it's foresight that gets ya.
m...@mole-end.matawan.nj.us
> cs1...@ccub.wlv.ac.uk (B.Attah) wrote:
>
> >If I make passing
> >reference to the SS Enterprise in my short story, I think it is reasonable
> >to assume that the reader knows that this is a spacecraft from the Star
> >Trek television series, devised by some bloke whose ashes are now floating
> >in space. No reasonable person would even pretend to believe that I was
> >making the implicit claim that "SS Enterprise" was my original idea.
>
> It wasn't their original idea, either. The Enterprise was a Navy ship
> first, a destroyer, I believe, or a carrier of some sort. You must be
> thinking of the "USS Enterprise." Don't you remember ST:IV? They were
> stealing nuclear power from the original Enterprise, which was docked in
> Sausalito?
The original ENTERPRISE was a Hudson River sloop in the American
Revolution. She was, at one point, under Benedict Arnold's command.
The present USS ENTERPRISE, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier,
is the sixth vessel in the service of the USA to bear that name. The
fifth was, I believe, the WWII carrier that returned to Pearl Harbor
just after the Japanese attack under the command of Bull Halsey.
--
(This man's opinions are his own.)
From mole-end Mark Terribile
m...@mole-end.matawan.nj.us, Somewhere in Matawan, NJ
(Training and consulting in C, C++, UNIX, etc.)
Marla J Sturdy
> In article @andrew.cmu.edu, Patricia Masserman <pm...@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
> > cs1...@ccub.wlv.ac.uk (B.Attah) wrote:
> >
> > >If I make passing
> > >reference to the SS Enterprise in my short story, I think it is reasonable
> > >to assume that the reader knows that this is a spacecraft from the Star
> > >Trek television series, devised by some bloke whose ashes are now floating
> > >in space. No reasonable person would even pretend to believe that I was
> > >making the implicit claim that "SS Enterprise" was my original idea.
> >
> > It wasn't their original idea, either. The Enterprise was a Navy ship
> > first, a destroyer, I believe, or a carrier of some sort. You must be
> > thinking of the "USS Enterprise." Don't you remember ST:IV? They were
> > stealing nuclear power from the original Enterprise, which was docked in
> > Sausalito?
> >
> >
> >
> Cheers
Everything from the STAR TREK series is now trademarked and under
complete copyright - which means, be very careful. Your average
run-of-the mill book is usually safe to borrow a word from - individual
words cannot be copyrighted, but must be trademarked.
Use common sense: While you can call your book Gone With The Wind and
titles can't be copyrighted, it would cause confusion. An editor will
insist that you change it.
I remember a joke that fits: plagiarism is stealing from one source.
Research is stealing from many sources.
Marla J. Sturdy
Kathy Vincent
OK. Why do you remember that?
Rossum? Possum? Are you sure the guy was Czech
and not just a transplanted US:ian Southerner?
Deck Deckert
: The fifth was, I believe, the WWII carrier that returned to
: Pearl Harbor just after the Japanese attack under the command
Boy, have my history books got it wrong! They claim old Bull was
commanding *American* naval forces. <g>
Deck
K.HAIGH-HUTCHINSON
Though I would consider using other Naval names even if Star Trek had
already reused them.
What I want to know is can I use the following words
communicator
transporter
starship
universal translator
shuttlecraft
antimatter (as a means of propulsion)
phaser
Roddenberry opted to use very simple descriptive names for these things.
The trouble is, the ideas are NOT unique to Star Trek, but since Star
Trek, Roddenberry's names are descriptive to the point of
What on earth (or in the Galaxy) DO I call these things?
So far
a universal translator is a translator
a phaser is 'ship's energy weapon' or 'hand held energy weapon'
a transporter is a teleport
So far so good. My naming of the energy weapons is a little clumsy though.
However I am now really struggling
What do I call a Starship? ( Not name, I've named the thing, but can I say
'The Starship Excalibur'. What do I call a communicator? Can I use an
antimatter drive system?
I don't think asking for 'author approval' will work in these cases. I
understand Paramount are very, very protective of their baby.
Kathy
Dave Gardner
Just as an extra input here--
the word "robot" seems to have been derived from the
Russian/Slavic word "robotnik", which means "worker".
As for the coining of the phrase, I thought it was
Asimov who came up with the term in his "Foundation Trilogy"
But the Capek angle also seems plausible--
who came first?
Dave
gar...@alc.com
James Barrett
word can't be copywrited. They can be trademarked, but that's a
different story. As far as plagarism goes, my teaching tells me that
something must be cited if it is not common knowledge. The SS Enterprise
is a common knowledge word, but it might be a registered trademark, in
which case, I just broke the law by not marking it as such and getting
permission, but I did not plagarize because it's origin is common
knowledge. On the other hand, my referrence to a Telerian would have to
be cited except for the fact that it is my own word.
Mike Huber
>I would not want to call a Starship 'Enterprise'. Too many connotations.
>Though I would consider using other Naval names even if Star Trek had
>already reused them.
>
>What I want to know is can I use the following words
>
>communicator
OK - very general
>transporter
OK, but kinda cliche
>starship
OK
>universal translator
OK
>shuttlecraft
Maybe just "shuttle." Or you could use a nautical term for a little
craft used to move between a main ship and nearby destinations - "dingy,"
for example.
>antimatter (as a means of propulsion)
just kind of hand-wave and refer to engines? I don't talk about my
petroleum fueled internal combustion drive's molecular disruption and
recombination energy source - I just drive my car.
Back then, antimatter was cool. Chaos is cool now.
>phaser
While I beleive there is now a physics word "phasar," there wasn't when
Star Trek first aired. Using "phaser" as a weapon is likely to get you
in trouble.
Read a lot, and remember that one source is plagerism and two are research,
but it's a bit iffy if the second plagerizes off the first.
--------------------------------
mike....@software.rockwell.com
If you never fail, you aren't challenging yourself.
Hound of Cullen
K.Haigh-H...@bradford.ac.uk (K.HAIGH-HUTCHINSON) wrote:
> I would not want to call a Starship 'Enterprise'. Too many connotations.
> Though I would consider using other Naval names even if Star Trek had
> already reused them.
>
> What I want to know is can I use the following words
>
> communicator
> transporter
> starship
> universal translator
> shuttlecraft
> antimatter (as a means of propulsion)
> phaser
[*whack* says the editor]
Communicator, starship and shuttlecraft shouldn't be a problem. They
predate the existence of Star Trek (TM) and are well established SF
conventions. I believe the same is true of antimatter, but I'm not as
certain in this case.
Phaser is definitely "Trek." It will associate your story with Kirk & the
boys. You can use all sorts of other names for an energy weapon, though:
Laser, Plasma gun, Blaster (the tackiest, I think), pulse weapon, etc.
Remember, too, that a lot of guns are referred to by their manufacturer's
name (Mauser, Smith & Wesson, Colt) or simply by their caliber
designation. It might give a touch more realism to your story to refer to
an energy weapon in terms of output (I pulled my 50 megawatt from the
holster and roasted the BEM) or by a fake manufacturer's name ("Bolt 45"
is the best plasma pistol around)
I'd recommend reading some SF from the '50's and early '60's to get a feel
for the pre-Trek terminology. That'll resolve your questions about the
bulk of these terms.
Hound ("Blazers on roast, captain") of Cullen
Alexander von Thorn
(Hound of Cullen) wrote:
> In article <1995Jun12.1...@bradford.ac.uk>,
> K.Haigh-H...@bradford.ac.uk (K.HAIGH-HUTCHINSON) wrote:
>
> > I would not want to call a Starship 'Enterprise'. Too many connotations.
> > Though I would consider using other Naval names even if Star Trek had
> > already reused them.
> >
> > What I want to know is can I use the following words
> >
> > communicator
> > transporter
> > starship
> > universal translator
> > shuttlecraft
> > antimatter (as a means of propulsion)
> > phaser
"Transporter", if used specifically to refer to a device which
instantaneously moves objects or people from one location to another
through some kind of energy transmission, will be associated with Star
Trek. You can use other words for this, if you really need to use such a
hackneyed device. (The only reason Trek used it is because it was cheaper
on television not to have to use shuttlecraft for every show.)
"Universal translator" may be associated with Star Trek if used the way
they use it. Again, it's easy to find alternate terms.
"Antimatter" is not a means of propulsion in Star Trek, it's fuel for the
(warp and impulse) engines. It is a term well-known to physicists which
refers to matter composed of subatomic particles with opposite electrical
charges to normal matter.
--
AvT
m...@mole-end.matawan.nj.us
> K.Haigh-H...@bradford.ac.uk (K.HAIGH-HUTCHINSON) wrote:
> >I would not want to call a Starship 'Enterprise'. Too many connotations.
> >Though I would consider using other Naval names even if Star Trek had
> >already reused them.
> >
> >What I want to know is can I use the following words
>
> >
> >communicator
> OK - very general
>
> >transporter
> OK, but kinda cliche
>
> >starship
> OK
>
> >universal translator
> OK
>
> >shuttlecraft
> Maybe just "shuttle." Or you could use a nautical term for a little
> craft used to move between a main ship and nearby destinations - "dingy,"
> for example.
>
> just kind of hand-wave and refer to engines? I don't talk about my
> petroleum fueled internal combustion drive's molecular disruption and
> recombination energy source - I just drive my car.
> Back then, antimatter was cool. Chaos is cool now.
>
> >phaser
> While I beleive there is now a physics word "phasar," there wasn't when
> Star Trek first aired. Using "phaser" as a weapon is likely to get you
> in trouble.
Actually, the EE world has used the term `phasor' (note the spelling) to
refer to a complex quantity for a long time. `Complex' in this context
refers to a number that is the sum of a real and an imaginary quantity.
Notice also that phasors can be used in field-and-wave problems, thus
leading to vector phasors--or even tensor phasors (in the case of isotropic
media).
Oh, yes. The real part represents energy transmitted, absorbed, or
dissipated. The imaginary part represents energy stored--and returned
later.
Marla J Sturdy
> > > communicator
> > > transporter
> > > starship
> > > universal translator
> > > shuttlecraft
Kathy, have you read any other science fiction besides "Star Trek"? If
not, this might answer some of your questions. Ray guns and starships,
shuttlecraft, assorted means of propulsion, transport, and translation
are used in any story having to do with space travel. Read lots and then
make up your own.
Marla J. Sturdy