744 replies to this topic

[Roy Calbeck]

Fredrick, on 05 March 2012 - 08:40 PM, said:

Gentlemen, regardless of my personal opinion on furries, I would like to remind you of one Roy Calbeck, who managed to get some crappy fiction about his Mary Sue unicorn character into one of the old noncanon rags--I don't think it was BattleTechnology, but whatever, it's an old apocryphal magazine.

Hi there!

Actually, nope, wrong on all counts. Here's the link to the fiction, adopted by WizKids as a canon version of the ELH History for ClassicBattleTech.com in 2002. It became part of the site's official database for faction and unit histories. No magazine involved (though I would have been proud to have contributed to Battletechnology, which was a fun mag albeit non-canon).

The reference you're flipping out about is this:

Quote

There is also a rumor that shortly after the Battle of Orkney, the sole survivor of the 71st Light Horse Regiment --- a member of the 11th Recon Company --- mysteriously disappeared into thin air while attempting to drink himself to death. Further amusing stories suggest that this lone trooper has returned to serve as a high-ranking Eridani officer, having physically transformed into an anthropomorphic unicorn similar to that which appears on the 11th Recon patch. Intelligence operatives are reminded that fanciful tales, while entertaining, have no place in a military datapak.

That's the sole reference to the unicorn chracter, which I made very sure to couch in terms of pure rumor-mill material so players could treat it any way they liked. Guy in a weird costume? Plastic-surgery addict with a unicorn fetish? Complete malarkey? I left it all as one of those "Weird Battletech Mysteries". Oh, I suppose I could have just put MYSELF (Scott Malcomson) in command of one of the ELH Regiments (hellloooooo, Colonel Warner Doles of the Capellan Lancers!), but that would have just been cheesy.

However, since a number of folks who were already bashing on my name and work around 2006 or so decided to throw the fact that I am indeed a furry fan in as another reason to hate me, I invoked TVTropes' "Word of God": an author reserves the right to clarify what they meant in any past fiction. J.K. Rowling clarified that Dumbledore was gay, and I clarified that Roy Calbeck was a furry because folks were slandering my name and using my being furry as ammo --- so screw 'em.

This is what's known as a "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy".

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someone at FASA suddenly saw this story about an overweight unicorn man single-handedly refinancing a battalion or something of the Eridani Light Horse and immediately stamped it "apocryphal"

Wow. I have NO idea where you got that. FASA went out of business and sold off Battletech to WizKids in 2000. WizKids published one version of my work in 2001, and another in 2002. There was zero drama about it, complaints, or anything else, until 2005. Time travel maybe?

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He took it to court and instead of suing for damages or to have the story reinstated

Aaaand according to the 9th Circuit, it is indeed a contribution to the Battletech property. For that matter, admissions made by the CBT moderator who took it down in the first place went into the court records and affirmed the following:

1) He decided to remove my material after "a company representative" ordered him to accredit me for it. No one told him to yank anything.

2) He agreed that my work, which "was present on the server at the time [he] took over", appeared in the "canon universe information". It was canon before he was ever in charge of anything.

So yes, my work stands as a contribution to the Battletech property.
Would you like to know more?

Edited by Roy Calbeck, 22 June 2012 - 02:11 PM.

[Roy Calbeck]

WerewolfX, on 21 March 2012 - 08:13 AM, said:

Looks like someone was a fan of Area 88 for that one.

Almost identical except that it's missing the cigar.

You mean like this?

Edited by Roy Calbeck, 22 June 2012 - 02:07 PM.

[Roy Calbeck]

wanderer, on 18 June 2012 - 06:01 PM, said:

Calbeck rustled my jimmies by trying to turn fanfic into a method to sue the people making Battletech.

Weeeell, it would have been fanfic except that WizKids published it as canon material. The 9th Circuit has since confirmed that, yes, this was a contribution to the Battletech property. It's nice to be vindicated.

(DESTRUCTION PIC)

Ooooh, nice work! Totally saved.

Edited by Roy Calbeck, 22 June 2012 - 02:06 PM.

[Spleenslitta]

If BT had furries then the Skaven would definitivly be here in all their skaby and pestilential glory. Won't bother putting up a pic since it's so much work on this site.

[wanderer]

Roy Calbeck, on 22 June 2012 - 01:37 PM, said:

So yes, my work stands as a contribution to the Battletech property.
Would you like to know more?

By law, your story is fanfiction and exactly as much a "contribution" as that pic I just made about "Rainbow Dash Coolant" on the Pony Thread. Attempting to use it as a wedge to force yourself into owning an undefined share of a massive, valuable intellectual property (that hey, produced this here MWO game included) was...I don't have a better word for this- un-intellectual act.

After all, when you attempted to claim "joint ownership" of the entire Battletech franchise, what happened.

(You call that contributing, by the way? The letter of the law, though certainly not the spirit...)

http://www.leagle.co...LWAR3-2007-CURR

And for good measure for the legal buffs here: http://www.developin...ags/joint-work/ is quite educational, specifically about Mr. Malcomson's attempt.

[Roy Calbeck]

wanderer, on 22 June 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:

By law, your story is fanfiction

Interesting that the term "fanfiction" appears nowhere in the body of US law. It's a fan term, not a legal one. And since you're already ignoring the posted citations anyways... well, we're not really having a discussion, so much as you're repeating yourself.

Quote

After all, when you attempted to claim "joint ownership" of the entire Battletech franchise, what happened.

Three things:

1) Topps agreed, and cited case law in support, that if I am a contributing co-author to the Battletech property, then the courts were required to declare me an equal co-owner of the entire thing. If I were to sue on basis of joint work, I had to sue for the whole thing, by law.

2) I originally sued as a "contributor to a collected work", which by law meant I could ONLY claim copyright in the material I myself created. I did attempt to keep it to this level, but as it turns out, Battletech does not meet the legal criteria for being a "collected work".

3) The courts disagreed with both myself and Topps regarding total co-ownership. They also, however, acknowledged that I am a contributor to Battletech. Heck, both the links you provided say so.

In point of fact, I originally offered to settle for mere co-ownership in the "Roy Calbeck" character, most of a year before filing the suit. Sans my contribution, the character is "stock" and therefore uncopyrightable (see Gaiman v. McFarlane), since he's just a name, rank, and quality rating. I gave him a story, making him copyrightable (also see the above case). But WizKids and Topps did not want to share even in a character that was not copyrightable without my contribution.

Guess that makes me greedy somehow...?

Edited by Roy Calbeck, 22 June 2012 - 02:39 PM.

[wanderer]

Roy Calbeck, on 22 June 2012 - 02:04 PM, said:

Weeeell, it would have been fanfic except that WizKids published it as canon material. The 9th Circuit has since confirmed that, yes, this was a contribution to the Battletech property. It's nice to be vindicated.

These are two different things. There are plenty of contributions, including stuff from Battletechnology and elsewhere that have been, at one point or another published in something considered "canon"- but after further review by the owners of the IP (that is, Battletech), they were tossed out. The only actual determinator of canonicity is the owners of the IP. They said "You ain't.". You sued for joint ownership of the IP. It was thrown out of court.

The second that happened, by law what you have is....effectively fanfic. And your 15 minutes of fame were over.

Edit note: Don't even try to chop legal logic with me over the term "fanfic". You are a fan. You contributed a piece of fiction that ended up on a site owned by the holders of the IP- who after review, did not accept it as canonical. It is, by definition of the holders of the IP, not canon or produced by someone with ownership of the IP. It is, in the end,fan fiction.

Quote

(DESTRUCTION PIC)

Ooooh, nice work! Totally saved.

Enjoy, you managed to get on Alex Iglesias's furry-destroying hit list. For all the Pony and Furry here on the website, the guy drawing MWO's Battlemechs REALLY does nice work obliterating em.

Edited by wanderer, 22 June 2012 - 02:39 PM.

[Roy Calbeck]

wanderer, on 22 June 2012 - 02:36 PM, said:

The only actual determinator of canonicity is the owners of the IP. They said "You ain't.".

Really? When and who? Y'know, I've had a bunch of folks toss out apocryphal "insider knowledge", but they always seem to come up short when backing it up.

However, three citations are in the court record regarding whether or not my work was "canon" --- which is not of course a term of law, so please don't confuse the two again.

Both CBT site administrators stated that my work was published to the "canon universe information" area of the website. This included a hostile witness who wanted me charged criminally. The latter admitted that when he removed the work, it was NOT on orders or even suggestion of anyone with WizKids, FanPro, et al. He just personally decided that I'd committed plagiarism and engaged in what he called on record "a DCMA takedown" (sp). This was after being told by a company representative to accredit me for the article.

What you have there is someone "white-knighting", as opposed to a company declaration of what is and is not canon.

Quote

The second that happened, by law what you have is....effectively fanfic.

There you go, repeating yourself. I'm a contributor to the Battletech property. You can call it a bleu cheese salad if you like.

Quote

Edit note: Don't even try to chop legal logic with me over the term "fanfic".

Irony, thy name is wanderer... *eyeroll*

[Spleenslitta]

Ummm...pardon me but i think you guys are straying way off topic here.
I believe the topic of the thread is meant to be slightly comedic and you're ruining the lighthearted mood here.
Most people on this thread would probably like it better if you continued your argument through PM's.

[Roy Calbeck]

Spleenslitta, on 22 June 2012 - 02:55 PM, said:

Ummm...pardon me but i think you guys are straying way off topic here.
I believe the topic of the thread is meant to be slightly comedic and you're ruining the lighthearted mood here.
Most people on this thread would probably like it better if you continued your argument through PM's.

*salutes* You got it.

[wanderer]

Spleenslitta, on 22 June 2012 - 02:55 PM, said:

Ummm...pardon me but i think you guys are straying way off topic here.
I believe the topic of the thread is meant to be slightly comedic and you're ruining the lighthearted mood here.
Most people on this thread would probably like it better if you continued your argument through PM's.

Already stopped.

[Arthinas]

Spooky, on 24 February 2012 - 02:22 AM, said:

Why did no one post this yet?

Wait a minute, there's something...familiar in here. Let's zoom in closer...



Hmm. Hmmmmm. HMMMMMMM.

[Two Beans]

e: yeah like that ^^^

I'll stay on topic. (topic being "Furries")

Furries are an abomination onto the eyes of The Lord Lowtax. We shall purge the heretics with Fire and Prejudice. The ground will be slick with blood, and covered in flattened fursuits trampled under mechfoot.

Arthinas, on 23 June 2012 - 08:30 AM, said:

..

Edited by Two Beans, 23 June 2012 - 08:41 AM.

[Hagetaka]

Roy Calbeck, on 22 June 2012 - 01:37 PM, said:

Would you like to know more?

How much do you weigh?

If scientific notation means fewer keystrokes, then I understand

[Two Beans]

*claims to own the BTech franchise*
*has to pay for premium membership on latest BTech video game*
*licks a salt block*

[Hagetaka]

Scott Malcomson
Scott Malcomson is a furry artist, also known by his unicorn fursona, Roy Calbeck. Not only he is known for his artwork (much of which is on Yerf), but also for being the founder and chief organizer of the furry convention, ZonieCon, as a past member of the Burned Furs movement, and being a perennial candidate for governor of Arizona under the Reform Party ticket.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Military service
  
• 2 Introduction to the fandom
  
• 3 GraphXpress/Rising Phoenix
  
• 4 Scott's art
  
• 5 Fursona
  
• 6 Conventions
  
• 7 Political activities
  
• 8 See also
  
• 9 References
  
• 10 External links
  • 10.1 Yerf
• 11 Related

[edit] Military service

Scott is a MilFur veteran, having served with honor with the US Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment as an M1A1 tank crewman during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
[edit] Introduction to the fandom

The discovery of a wealth of anthropomorphic comics in the quarter bins of an El Paso comic book shop was Scott's introduction to furry fandom in early 1989. As this was during his tour of duty in the Army, he found the extra cash needed to amass a truly impressive comic collection from the bins, but found that virtually none of the books were still being published, their creators had all folded their tents when black-and-white comics went bust in the late '80s.
A horse fan at heart, Scott was gratified to find that Jim Groat's GraphXPress, publisher of Red Shetland, was still up and running... or, more properly, limping. Nonetheless, it was still putting out issues, and Scott became determined to see that this one survivor of the "B&W Bust" did not go under.
He struck up a correspondence with Jim, eventually meeting at the 1990 San Diego Comic Con where he pledged $1,000 to the Red Shetland Animation Project, which had the lofty aim of getting the feisty war-mare into a Saturday morning cartoon slot. Eventually he was invited to Jim's home in Tucson, where he became a regular visitor to (and over the years, a member of) the infamous Tucson Mob.
[edit] GraphXpress/Rising Phoenix

Throughout his Army tour, and four years of college following his discharge, Scott continued to assist GraphXpress financially, going so far once as to attempt to create an umbrella corporation backed by "angel capital" in order to give a hand up to not only GraphXpress but also dozens of other independent artists and small-press publishers.
This attempt, under the working title of Rising Phoenix Comics Group, came close to succeeding: every group of venture capitalists he made his pitch to liked the idea and wanted to see it developed. However, none of them was willing to be the first investor, and Scott was not able to raise the necessary minimum initial capital needed to trigger larger investments. "RPCG" was ultimately shelved when his financial ability to pursue further contacts ran dry.
[edit] Scott's art

Joy Riddle is the person to blame for Scott becoming a furry artist, if anyone. He had already become involved in interactive storytelling on the BBSes of the day --- which preceded the browser-driven Internet --- and at one point, Joy demanded that Scott join the Dallas Brawl. Home to some fifty cartoonists, "the Brawl" was where their characters all interacted...usually to the effect of throwing pies or nuclear warheads at each other.
Scott protested, citing his lousy art skills, at which Joy scoffed, remarking that not only did Scott's even lousier puns belong in the "Brawl", but that one of the major players drew a stick figure as a main persona. Excuses exhausted, Scott submitted an introductory cartoon to Mel. White, the editor. At some point he became a member of Rowrbrazzle, and for a brief period contributed to the fandom's original interactive zap'zine Bizarre Wars.
[edit] Fursona



Roy Calbeck
Scott's choice of character ("Roy Calbeck") was directly meant to be a foil to Joy's "Harry Horsemage". Where Harry was genteel, self-deprecating, and a clove-smoker, Roy was an ex-military roustabout alcoholic who enjoyed the odd cigar and a hot game of poker.
Roy has served for over a decade as Scott's preferred role-playing alter-ego, both in and out of furry fandom.
Scott's fursona on Second Life is named Roy Kerensky.
[edit] Conventions

Scott was the Chairman and prime mover of ZonieCon during its short-lived run from 1998-2002. He was considering resurrecting the convention pending sufficient funds, and then someone provided them. The next event is scheduled for September 30 - October 2, 2011.
[edit] Political activities

Scott obtained 8,371 votes in 1998 on a $1,000 Reform Party campaign by participating in numerous debate forums including the final televised debates. Arizona's biggest newspaper, The Arizona Republic, lauded Scott's straightforward approach to politics, saying "...his inability to obfuscate does not portend a bright political future". His campaign motto was, and is, "Ethics, Economy, Education".
His no-budget campaign failed, but proved to party members his commitment and debating skills. When Pat Buchanan and his followers took over the Reform Party in 2000, Scott became an outspoken opponent of Buchanan, conducting research and writing articles denouncing the conduct of the Buchanan campaign, such as the attempt to stuff the primary ballot box with 500,000 non-qualifying ballots. He served as a Delegate to the 2000 National Convention, representing Arizona.
In 2001, Scott was elected Secretary of the Arizona Reform Party. He represented the state when the party's anti-Buchanan leadership met in Kansas City on the St. Patrick's Day weekend, and was one of the key contributors to the "Drive Out the Snakes" resolution which united the party's normally-fractious factions in opposition to the remaining Buchanan forces.
When the party held its National Convention in 2002, Scott once again represented Arizona as a Delegate, speaking out several times on the floor to denounce Buchananist rule-breaking, and call for a return to the party's original ideals of streamlined government and fiscal responsibility. The Convention ousted the last of the Buchanan holdouts at the national level.
In 2002, Malcomson was cited for a traffic violation while campaigning from a vacant lot, under a city ordinance intended to prevent panhandlers from using the street medians to hawk wares and services. However, in court, the judge ruled that the median was part of the "right of way", which also included the road itself and the sidewalks to either side. Simply standing by the side of the road with a sign was sufficient cause for citation. Scott chose not to appeal the case and paid the $100 fine.^[1]. He impressed the Tucson Weekly with his debate presence^[2], but failed to make the 2002 ballot. On November 8, 2006, Malcomson announced his intention to make another gubernatorial run in 2012, as well as his plans for state legislature candidacy in 2008^[3]. Both were subsequently shelved: Scott has decided to cease pursuing political reform because, in his words, "folks talk it, but no one backs it".


He also made it onto South Park:

http://www.southpark...coming-outcasts

[Hagetaka]

[phinja]

Metro, on 24 February 2012 - 07:47 AM, said:

The last FURRIES thread was removed, because the behavior of those posting, got out of hand.

So This thread has already been reported and it will be up to Garth as to whether or not it will be allowed to remain.

We want you all to be able to log in and enjoy your visit, but it only takes one wrong post to ruin it all for everyone.


>> so we are Watching <<

here, have some tofu, it makes magic happy.


inb4hate

[Arthinas]

http://www.ca9.uscou...28/10-15540.pdf

"The district court properly granted summary judgment because Malcomson failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether his periodic written contributions to a small portion of a popular science fiction gaming franchise satisfied the test for joint ownership of the entire work. See Aalmuhammed, 202 F.3d at 1234 (listing factors to determine whether a work is jointly authored in the absence of a contract for purposes of a copyright claim of joint ownership)."

[JabberJon]

I approve. XD