Details on the copyright fight to make a film of Anthony "Buck" Rogers' origin story: ARMAGEDDON 2419. Even though that story is in the public domain and even through John Dille did NOT create the character, the Dille family claims rights to the character of Buck.
How does this relate to Holmes?
1. Dr. Holmes wrote the novel MORDRED, a direct sequel to ARMAGEDDON 2419. Holmes was allowed to do almost anything with the character of Anthony Rogers except call him "Buck."
2. Lorraine Dille Williams was one of the inheritors of the Dille family fortune and the rights to Buck Rogers. She also happened to take control of TSR in 1986 when the Blume brothers sold her their shares of stock. Soon after, she made sure TSR produced a bunch of Buck Rogers RPG and board games that nobody wanted so that she could profit from both sides of the licensing agreement.
http://boingboing.net/2015/10/16/buck-rogers-and-the-copyright.html
Very interesting article, thanks for posting! As much as I agree with the overall point, it's nice to see John Dille being sued for IP owned by the Dille estate itself after his and Lorraine Williams' epic douchebaggery in ousting Gygax from TSR. The two of them will hopefully get their own very special plot in the 9th Circle of Hell when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteAndy C, I think John Dille has been dead for some time now. Are you thinking of Flint Dille, John's grandson and Lorraine's brother (and game designer, film writer, comic book writer, etc.)?
ReplyDeleteAh yes, my bad - Flint Dille indeed. Too many Dilles to keep track of. If memory serves, Flint was going to collaborate with Gygax on a project and ended up being the one who brought Lorraine Williams into TSR's orbit. That would be what earns him his spot in the 9th Circle..
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. One collaboration between Flint Dille and Gygax was published - the Sagard the Barbarian gamebooks.
ReplyDeleteZach H, yep those were the ones I was thinking of.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Flint Dille didn't have anything to do with the Pog's ousting of Gary, and that he is still friends with one of the famous TSR alumni, but I could be wrong. As it is, the Buck Rogers "AD&D2e Lite" system is pretty solid and there is enough material there to run a 20 year campaign.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I bought all BR25c books second-hand, so none of MY money went to the Pog's pockets. ;)
P.O.G. = Person Ousting Gary or Person Other than Gary. I have condensed a group of monsters into POGS acronym: Puddings, Oozes, Gels & Slimes. Not relevant, yet has that middle-school segue charm. XD
ReplyDeleteRobert Weber, you're going to confuse all the prior service bubbas out there - everyone knows POG means "People Other than Grunt"! ; )
ReplyDeleteAndy, everyone knows that there's only two types of Marines: Marines and SubMARINES! WTH is a Grunt?
ReplyDeleteQ: What's that grunt sound?
A: The sound the Pog makes when she takes dice from gamers and eats them! LOL.
Robert Weber, last one before Tony justifiably beats us for thread hijacking. A grunt is a an infantry bubba; door kicker, aka bullet launcher, etc. Army equivalent of jarhead : )
ReplyDeleteAs far as Flint Dille is concerned, if I may quote Ernie Gygax from a Facebook thread: "Flint was awfully wonderful for someone with possibly this sort of background. I really miss the old days with the DDEC [ed: Dungeons & Dragons Entertainment Corp] activities and the constant gaming with Cartoon writers and other fine gentleman."
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