You can patent Storylines!?

[Chaldfont]

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/04/0239221&from=rss

Here's my patent submission: "A group of treasure hunters meet a mysterious hooded figure in a tavern who sends them on a quest to kill monsters and take their loot."

Then I can sit back and let the license fees roll in...

 

[Henry]

Contrary to the doomspeakers at Slashdot, it still has to be approved, AND it has to be defended in court, so something obvious like patenting the Superman story isn't going to stand a snowball's chance. Second, it's a patent, not a copyright, and can't be extended in the same ways that a copyright can, IIRC.

I'll also move this over to Off-topic, because I have the patent on moving threads.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

Reminds me of the (ludicrous IMO) lawsuit involving the James Bond movie franchise. I believe it involved either Thunderball or Never Say Never Again.

 

[Bront]

Reminds me of Fox claiming the terms "Fair and Balanced" were trademarked property. That was laughed out of court by the judge.

 

[wingsandsword]

Can you do this, no, but they can try. You can file a patent on any damn-fool thing you want, it's just a matter of getting it actually approved, and defend it if neccesary.

Then they have to actually get the patent approved, then the inevitable maelstrom of lawsuits from the entire entertainment industry (wanna get sued by every TV network, movie studio, publishing house, video game company, comic book company, and a bunch of other field I can't think of right now all at once?) Then they have to fight the monumental hoardes of "Prior Art" claims against the patent (entire libraries of evidence, the works of Shakepeare, Homer, even the Bible itself entered as prior art of various plots). Then deal with the backlash from the public when this makes it to every media outlet in the country (and world) likely leading to major changes to patent laws?

 

[mojo1701]

Reminds me of the (ludicrous IMO) lawsuit involving the James Bond movie franchise. I believe it involved either Thunderball or Never Say Never Again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderball#The_controversy_over_the_novel

It involved both of them, but it was because the book upon which the movie was based was based on another teleplay which Fleming and two other writers (one which initiated the lawsuit) wrote.

One of the stipulations was the production of "Never Say Never Again."

 

[babomb]

Can you do this, no, but they can try. You can file a patent on any damn-fool thing you want, it's just a matter of getting it actually approved, and defend it if neccesary.

Actually, whether you can actually do this is still up in the air. I certainly hope that it's struck down, but I'm not terribly optimistic. Software patents are still around, and they're bad ideas too.

 

[glass]

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/04/0239221&from=rss

Here's my patent submission: "A group of treasure hunters meet a mysterious hooded figure in a tavern who sends them on a quest to kill monsters and take their loot."

Then I can sit back and let the license fees roll in...

I wouldn't imagine it would be hard to show prior art for that one...


glass.

(IANAL)

 

[Stormborn]

Considering there is only one Plot in existance that would be hard. The plot: "The ideal is lost." Everything can be explained in that one line.

 

[Henry]

Considering there is only one Plot in existance that would be hard. The plot: "The ideal is lost." Everything can be explained in that one line.

What about a story of a person who wins the lottery and then uses it to improve lives?