@RUTGERS.ARPA:Purtill.SIPB@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA (04/24/85)
From: Mark Purtill <Purtill@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA> <Fnord> >HOWEVER, NECRON-90 (PEACE) was a fairly blatant ripoff of a >character created by the late Vaughn Bode[, Cobalt-60.] >... >It was plagarism all right, but Vaughn Bode was already dead, and I >suppose his heirs just didn't want to fight it (I never was aware of >any legal action). Stealing ideas from dead artists seems ghoulish >to me, and my personal respect for Bakshi dropped quite a bit. Several years ago, I was at either Norwestcon or Baycon (or maybe even Westercon - somewhere on the west coast anyway) and Bode's son, Mark, was there, along with another person whose name I've forgotten and will refer to as *A* (a colaborator of V. Bode). They said that what had happened was something like this: Bakshi saw the character (at that point I think still unpublished) in V. Bode's notebook and got the idea for WIZARDS, but they couldn't come to terms. Some time later, V. Bode died, leaving his estate in a mess that took literally years to clean up. Immediately, Bakshi began Wizards, which in due course came out. At this point, V. Bode's estate had STILL not been settled, and so no legal action was (could be) taken. In fact, by the time V. Bode's estate was settled, it was to late to file a lawsuit for copywrite infringement. (nThere may also have been some problem with the copywrite, i.e., whatever Cobalt-60 appeared in had no copywrite notice, or was never officially distributed or something. (This WAS a couple of years ago. I only remember as much as I do because M. Bode and I have the same first name.)) Anyway, M. Bode and *A* were to collaborate on a new series of Cobalt-60 strips, which I THINK is/was to be/will be appear in EPIC magazine. (If anyone has seen them, perhaps we could get a review for the net.) *A* said that he hoped Bakshi sued THEM for copywrite infringement, because then they could counter-sue, but that he didn't think Bakshi was that stupid. Other than that hope, apparently they have no legal recourse. >(Insert here the usual disclaimer about sketchy memories of things >and people in past decades.) I second the motion. Incidentally, "Bode" is pronounce in two sylables, something like "Bo-Day" (like "Vo-Tech", only different). Mark ^.-.^ Purtill at MIT-MULTICS ((")) 2-032 MIT Cambrige MA 02139
wdr@faron.UUCP (William D. Ricker) (05/01/85)
Mark Purtill writes: > Anyway, M. Bode and *A* were to collaborate on a new series >of Cobalt-60 strips, which I THINK is/was to be/will be appear in EPIC >magazine. (If anyone has seen them, perhaps we could get a review for >the net.) *A* said that he hoped Bakshi sued THEM for copywrite >infringement, because then they could counter-sue, but that he didn't >think Bakshi was that stupid. Other than that hope, apparently they >have no legal recourse. Cobalt-60 has appeared in EPIC, a couple of times in the last year, I think. I recognized Necron-90 allright, and assumed Bakshi was being ripped off. Thanks for showing the other side of it. (I'm not going to assume anything's proven either way, unless Bakshi does sue.) The strips are amusing. If you liked Wizards, you may well like Cobalt-60. It's got a better surprise ending than Wizards. Though I still like the film. -- William Ricker wdr@faron.UUCP (UUCP) decvax!genrad!linus!faron!wdr (UUCP) {allegra,ihnp4,utzoo,philabs,uw-beaver}!linus!faron!wdr (UUCP) Opinions are my own and not necessarily anyone elses. Likewise the "facts".