I thought readers of this forum would be interested in this case.
Ronald J. Riley www.rjriley.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Bartmess <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, July 26, 1998 4:42 AM
If anyone on this list hasn't heard, the lawsuit against the Franklin
Mint is on the move. All the facts are in the hands of the judge
charged with summary judgement on the case's prime legal point, and we
now see if the case law my lawyer has cited is enough to prove my
ownership of the rules, or if they fall into the hands of the Franklin
Mint.
I am very scared. If I win, great; Justice is served. If I lose,
well, at least I did everything possible to try and bring Golieth to
heel. But if I do lose, there is the chance they will try and be
vindictive and try to force me to pay their legal fees incurred in the
filing. I am just a Regular Joe...I had to go into hock to fight this
case, and *that* was with a probono lawyer. Please pray for me, and
that justice will be served.
----------------------Useful Web Sites----------------------
If these links fail, try twice�the server is irregular. Also, any
search engine told to find "Andrew Bartmess" should get you to the
official site.
The original Tri-D Chess rules (c) 1977 by Andrew Bartmess are at:
http://home.interhop.net/~bag/original.htm
The true story of the Franklin Mint's taking of those rules is at:
http://home.interhop.net/~bag/tactical.htm
With current updates on the lawsuit at:
http://home.interhop.net/~bag/update.htm
The ordering information for the 4.0 Federation Standard version
of the rules as (c) by Andrew Bartmess, the original author, are at:
http://home.interhop.net/~bag/startrek.htm
Some enhancements to that game (c) 1997 by Andrew Bartmess are at:
http://home.interhop.net/~bag/rev3d.htm
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The standard press release follows, if you don't know about this
case. If anyone has friends in the media, please pass this email along.
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The Franklin Mint is being sued by Tiger Woods for using his likeness
without permission. They are being sued by the Estate of Princess Di
for using her image without permission. They are powerful and
unscrupulous, and they've tried to cheat me as well, by using my words
to make a bundle of money. I have spent four years fighting them, and
have sold my revised rules over the internet to countries around the
world. If you want a "little guy battles the corporate giant" story,
here it is:
In 1977 I published the rules to STAR TREK's Tri-D Chess under my own
name. The Franklin Mint has since stolen my words, used them as a
spring-board to a $240+ collectible, and made a fortune. When I caught
them at it, they lied to me that their rules were not my words, and told
me to get lost. They have since stolen my words a second time with the
production of a STAR TREK: TNG tri-d chess board. **They are lying in
print to consumers that they wrote my rules.**
I am fighting this in court, but they have tried to strong-arm me
into dropping the suit by threatening me with their defense costs (they
claim my lawsuit is "frivolous".) Both established case law from the
era and the original publisher say I own the rules. The powerful
Franklin Mint is counting on the fact that I won't be heard; their
high-priced lawyers may have more power than my pro bono one. Please,
PLEASE pass this along to anyone you know in the media. I won't let the
big guys win because I didn't try to fight this injustice.
If you bought a Franklin Mint STAR TREK Tri-D chess set, or just
want to know more about the REAL game behind it, please read this. I am
the original author of the chess rules that the Mint is pirating for
their own use, and my lawsuit has been filed. The Franklin Mint doesn't
want you to know the following:
In 1978, as a sixteen-year-old in high school, I wrote a set of
chess rules that described how to play STAR TREK's Tri-D chess. No
rules existed before that time; it was merely a set-prop on the old STAR
TREK TV show. I sold these rules for one-time publishing to _The STAR
TREK Giant Poster Book_, a national periodical that went out of business
shortly thereafter. Over the years, I have re-written the rules several
times, and self-published them...all revisions bear my copyright.
Three years ago, I found out that the Franklin Mint was selling
a $200 Trek Chess set. I wrote them to make sure they were not using my
rules, and sent a full info-pack with the updated rules, the original
article, and all documentation. Two months later, having no answer, I
phoned them up, and was assured that their rules looked nothing like my
rules. (This, I later learned, was a bold-faced lie.) When I
pressured them for a copy, they finally mailed them to me...they match
almost word-for-word.
I have spent the last three years of my life tracking down the
principles in the case, including a publishing magnet in England (Felix
Dennis) who says I own the rules. I am suing the Mint , but they say I
am merely harassing them, and they intend to sue me for whatever legal
fees I cost them. I don't think it is "frivolous" to have the case
decided by a judge; they are leaning on me to drop the case.
The website has connected me with over 250 dissatisfied
purchasers of the Mint's chess set, and I have become the "answer man"
for all chess questions on their board, as they cannot explain the
original rules (the ones they claim they produced in-house) enough to
help confused purchasers. I have been told that the Mint "does not view
the rules as being integral to the product" but would YOU buy a
boardgame you could not play?
I was also told that the entire idea for the board originated
with a Mint staffer, who saw a bootleg xerox of my original article at a
SF convention, and took it to his bosses at the Mint. Their product
would not EXIST if it were not for my rules, and they have been sold
*worldwide* at $200 US.
My revised 1997 Federation Standard 4.0 version of the rules is
available at this Website, along with a sample game, the Mint's
"official" (lying) letter of response, and updates on the court case.
Please surf the web-site, and look at the official Mint response
letter, where they again lie that they produced the rules themselves.
They are almost word-for-word my rules. These bastards have
made hundreds of thousands of dollars on the case. I am risking
everything to have my day in court. They are counting on the fact that
I don't have the resources to let people hear about this. The web-page
has helped some, but I need to pass this injustice along to protect
myself against their legal firepower. They are morally wrong on this; I
believe them to be legally wrong as well.
If you have any contacts within the print, television or radio
media that might find this battle as interesting, please pass this email
along, and if you do, please let me know at this email address. It is
a lonely battle, fighting this.
They took my words and lied to me that they hadn't. The case
against the Mint is in discovery and headed for court, but I am fearful
that their expensive lawyers are somehow going to screw me over; they
view my claim as "frivolous" (or want me to go away) and I am fearful
that they will win. They have openly lied to me during this thing, and
have stolen my words TWICE to sell thousands of copies of their $200
Star Trek collectable. I have obtained a printed copy of their
"rebuttal letter", which they send to board owners who see the webpage
and complain that I have been shafted. In that letter (link below) they
outright lie that they produced the rules themselves, which I CAN prove
is false. I need to find some media outlet that would be interested in
publishing this before I may have to sell my house to cover this.
Please check out the links and pass this email along.
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