Transcripts Theft

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  • #40518
    Headgehog
    Participant

    The Battlestar Galactica Transcripts are a major draw of visitors to the site. The transcripts have bumped the guide’s pages to the top of the search engines. I’ve exchanged emails with people on six continents about the transcripts and closed captions. And with all this wonderful attention comes other who wish to host these transcripts on their own sites. I usually oblige for the better of the fan community, so long as they ask politely.

    They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so what is theft considered?

    I came back from a relaxing vacation to discover that some fledgling site is using the transcripts that I and several others have helped prepare over the last year.

    You’d think that the big warning at the bottom, asking webmasters not to take without permission would deter them a little. Or maybe even guilt trip them into at least acknowledging where the transcripts came from. Not so for this antisocial webmaster.

    Despite that I usually giver permission for the transcripts to be posted elsewhere, this webmaster got greedy, and tired to pass off the transcripts prepared for this site as his own.

    As to be expected, I sent a professional and courteous email asking that the transcripts (with my own words) be removed. Instead he blew smoke up my ass, and resorted to name calling.

    After a few volleys of emails, this webmaster has replaced some of my transcripts with those that someone else prepared (I wonder if he got permission?), left some of the sadgeezer scripts up, and is in the process of having one of his minions tweak the remaining sadgeezer transcripts to look as his own. Too bad, he’s doing a really half assed job, because its not fooling anyone.

    It’s time like these that I wonder why I should bother preparing the transcripts, when some juvenile will take credit for my own work later down the line. The truth is though, that I enjoy contributing to the scifi fan community. And so long as I’m having fun, I will continue to contribute.

    Anyone else have a similar opinion? Comments? A story to share?

    #75094
    theFrey
    Participant

    What crap.

    You can have a flashy website, but content is king. Which is nice, since we have so many people contributing original content to Sad’s.

    However, that brings you to the dark side of the web, where lazy people feel it is easier to cut and paste your stuff rather than create their own. Quite a bummer Headge. But on the plus side you are helping a perfect stranger grown their site with no work on their part. Not even the tiny bit of effort to ask you if they could use them.

    Admittedly, transcripts are not high art or anything, but they take time and effort and it is good of you to put your stuff up there to save some other person the drudgery of building up their content. Doubtless slacker web masters of the BSG world salute you.

    Of course you are ruining it with your whining. I suppose this means they might now have to waste a precious twenty minutes or so, rearranging your stuff so they can pass it off as their own. Sigh…. sometimes life can be so hard. ๐Ÿ™

    #75099
    mandara k
    Participant

    I am sorry to hear that., HH but well some people are just idiots. I feel like sometimes saying Hey, The Village called, they are wondering when you are coming back home.

    The transcripts are a nice touch. may be you won’t have to do them for so long now. You see, these webmasters, a symptom to a larger problem to this show. I’ve seen people steal stuff right and left without being courteous at all. That’s a sad state of affairs.

    You could always slip in some lines that weren’t there in the middle. like a Lee saying “I’m gay… and carefree.” A Tyrol line saying “I’m a big imbecile but aren’t i sexy when I’m angry?” They are becomng cartoonish. I mean c’mon…. how long can 6 months last, and Roslin goes to the big presidential mansion in the sky? They are going to drag six months for 6 years? “ZZZZZZZ”

    The exciting words in BSG now? Pegasus and Cain.

    Wake me up when they have something worrthwhile to contribute, otherwise it’s another boring sci-fi show that fits formula.

    It makes me want to write sci-fi myself saying, hey guys, the war show better be pounding the swords back into plows. ’cause the peeps in this country are gonna get tired of war and of government. The fifteen minutes of fame may be winding down. You know what movies were offered in the States over the 4th? War pictures. Duh, you morons. the best thing of note right now is the relief for Africa. Africa is the heart of this planet, whether you believe it or not. And we all know if you don’t take care of the heart the body will die including the mind.

    No, what do we get? All rhetoric, all Paris Hilton commercials. I love America but man there are times a nice cottage in Europe sounds good, away from all of it.

    Call me whatever you want, but I don’t think like 90% of the population on this planet. I don’t give a flying frack about wealth, or power or fame, or a bigger car or possessions of any kind. I don’t care what people look like, I care how they think and most especially where there heart is. If it is pursuit of any of that temporary drivel, I have no time for them. But for this, I have been ostracized and driven off boards. FRACK THOSE SHALLOW IDIOTS!!!!

    Sorry, I went OT, but i feel better ๐Ÿ˜‰

    #75102
    mysteriesofthesea
    Participant

    Don’t post your “good stuff” online. Just post your junk. Anything really good,..that is posted,.. stands a chance of misuse!

    #75104
    Anonymous
    Guest

    It happens though. A young lady ion Russia translated most of my LEXX reviews and posted them on her own website as her own. I’d love to say that it’s flattering, but I guess if you take the time and trouble to do something and someone just copies it as their own, it leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

    Personally, I would make a statement on the Boards that their website was using your stuff without your permission.

    #75212
    7th_Dizbuster
    Participant

    Maybe prevention is better than cure:

    http://www.hypergurl.com/norightclick.html

    #75213
    Headgehog
    Participant

    Thanks for the link 7th_Dizbuster. I’ve seen that code myself, and tested implementing it on the site a few weeks ago. Yes, it will work. However it will prevent people from using the transcripts to copy paste their favourite lines in threads and elsewhere. Or similarly other innocent uses. I get too many hits from them to want to scare off the visitors that know where the true transcripts come from.

    Besides, it took me 20 seconds to figure out a way around it. So I researched another code for use with that one. But that can cause some other problems later on.

    With the harassment, my patience is wearing thin on this issue; and it’s about to be not fun. I wonder how long it would take him write his own frakking transcripts from scratch?

    #75204
    tpol
    Participant
    Headgehog wrote:

    Thanks for the link 7th_Dizbuster. I’ve seen that code myself, and tested implementing it on the site a few weeks ago. Yes, it will work. However it will prevent people from using the transcripts to copy paste their favourite lines in threads and elsewhere. Or similarly other innocent uses. I get too many hits from them to want to scare off the visitors that know where the true transcripts come from.

    Besides, it took me 20 seconds to figure out a way around it. So I researched another code for use with that one. But that can cause some other problems later on.

    With the harassment, my patience is wearing thin on this issue; and it’s about to be not fun. I wonder how long it would take him write his own frakking transcripts from scratch?

    You are causing your own harrasment here by not admitting to yourself you could be in the wrong, talk about a projecting personality, classic example. It takes a strong man to admit it so, what are you? It takes about 4hrs for 2 people to go through and transcribe the episodes

    #75205
    Headgehog
    Participant

    Go ahead, I took the first 15, you can do the next 15.

    I don’t go to your site and slam you so stay off mine!

    #75206
    aneeqa
    Participant

    Salaam,
    Why don’t you both stop fighting over it. It’s not like either of you own the rights to the episodes any way. Universal owns it. This is just hurting the Bsg fans and community. We all should work together to help out the community. Salaams

    #75219
    theFrey
    Participant

    No, neither one own the rights to the show, but the person putting in the effort to post the stuff should have some say in how it is used. Like anything else, if you ask if you can have something, you will most likely get it, but when you take, people get miffed. Real basic lesson that most of us learn when we are about five. Key words in that sentence, most of us.

    I spent a lot of time and effort doing stuff for Lexx. And it would have ticked me off to no end had someone just snagged my work to fluff up the content of their site. No asking, no acknowlegement, just snagged. So then, had I asked the offender to remove my stuff, I would not be real happy if they then just slapped up a belated acknowlegement, ignored my request to remove it, and then started p*ssing with me on my own home board .

    So now we have a snappy answer that said person figures it takes 4 hours for 2 people to do a transcript. So for 15 transcrips we are now talking about what now? About a 120 hours of work? That is a lot of time and effort to put into something to have it cherry picked by another. And someone is jacked that Headge complained? Please. Someone once said it takes a strong man to admit they were wrong….. are we going to see that here?

    We try to have a lot of content on this site, for the private enjoyment of everyone, not the gain of a few.

    Well, this has been fun, but work calls.

    #75228
    theFrey
    Participant

    I peeked real quick and saw at least one of yours still there. Which means they did not have anyone else to get them from, or hadn’t had time to rework yours and claim it as their own. Even that take time. ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜†

    #75231
    Pendle
    Participant

    Seems like an honest mistake to me, no need to get your head lost about it if they have said sorry.

    #75232
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Here’s my story — it’s litigious territory so it’s best I don’t share details or names.

    I was writing ideas for a TV show at a site owned by the producers in the hopes of becoming a consultant, and eventually a writer for them.

    It turns out that several of my plotlines were lifted for episodes of the show. Even though I had been concerned about this happening, I could not believe how blatant it was when the episodes finally aired.

    Due to the structure of the site, I had speculated that the writers may have been using it for ideas. When I raised my concerns, they put a statement on the main page saying in essence, “All materials on the site are the property of the production company.” This is something we never agreed to. I complained, and the board where I had posted my ideas was quickly removed. I had been very active there. No explanation was forthcoming.

    I tried to get back in touch with the people, but they never would answer my emails. I had not copyrighted my material and probably could not have won a case — they had a large legal division at their disposal.

    I know my ideas were not influenced much by the show (other than the setting and basic character traits) since I had a limited knowledge of the show when I wrote them. I’d done sufficient research on the show to write stories that would fit into the general context of the show.

    I had done some secondary work for the electronic division of the media company, and didn’t want to burn any bridges I had made. I let it go in the hopes that certain people might still consider me for work in the future. I wish I had pursued it more at the time.

    I should have known better since I’d had an experience before with another entertainment company. It might have been coincidence in that case that I submitted a sketch to them called “Talking to Afghanis,” received a reply back that they would NOT consider unsolicited materials, and about two weeks later happened to see a sketch called “Talking to Afghanis.” In that case while some of my suggested plot-elements were there, it was quite different — mine was funny, theirs was not.

    Anyway, on the bright side, I like to think I am the part owner of a shiny Genie award (equivalent to an Emmy).

    That’s probably the closest I’ll ever come to success in television since it jaded me so much that I lost interest in professional fiction writing. Though I do work as a writer/reseracher, but only in preparing boring documents for an NGO.

    Edited for missing one important word, NOT.

    #75234
    mandara k
    Participant

    Oh Logan, I am sorry for your bad experience. My ideas are theirs on BB’s ’cause My best ones are not for shows, they are for my whim to develop, I’ll prolly be an Emily Dickinson type, they’ll find it all posthumously and well with morals being as they are will prolly lift them. No, we are do for a morality kick-in soon, remember the code imposed on movies in the 30’s or 40’s. You wait, you thought it’s bad now wait until that crack down on the new opiate for US masses, sex and the old violence. The staple of American entertainment. It WAS religion, now it’s sex, i mean it is hard to get intelligent ideas out of a populace staring at T and A or trying to be the one stared at. “yawn” I mean do corporate CEO’s go to strip club and talk of business in broad daylight. it may be that way, a little lap dance and a major merger.

    Give me story first, sex if it is well done, and violence if if it’s in the story and fits and don’t dumb it down. Most sci-fi is dumbed down or so much techno-babble it drags.

    I’m waiting for the ep that shows the carnage of war like a mass grave, but who wants to see holocaust like that? Rwanda saw it in our recent history. Millions slaughtered. Of course, we don’t want to think about that, we want to think about getting into someone’s pants. I don’t. I find this whole concentration on the inane a farce.

    But hey, that’s my wonderful society, and if i state this then i am an outcast, but you guys know me, you know my mind.

    SO, go back to my root, everything in moderation. And keep my mouth closed. ๐Ÿ˜€

    #75245
    Headgehog
    Participant
    aneeqa wrote:

    This is just hurting the Bsg fans and community. We all should work together to help out the community. Salaams

    Pendle wrote:

    Seems like an honest mistake to me, no need to get your head lost about it if they have said sorry.

    I have made my peace with this issue. As an experiment (in futility or masochism?). I’ve allowed the Fragged transcript to be freely reposted elsewhere with the modest citation provided at the top of the transcript. I wonder what will happen?

    #75272
    theFrey
    Participant

    Ummm, Headge, is it me, or is this entire post acting really wonky?

    #75282
    aneeqa
    Participant
    Headgehog wrote:

    aneeqa wrote:

    This is just hurting the Bsg fans and community. We all should work together to help out the community. Salaams

    I have made my peace with this issue. As an experiment (in futility or masochism?). I’ve allowed the Fragged transcript to be freely reposted elsewhere with the modest citation provided at the top of the transcript. I wonder what will happen?[/quote]

    Salaam,
    Thank you for still sharing it. Have the offender stopped? The experiment work? I hope so. Salaams

    #75294
    Berzerker
    Participant

    Don’t worry Lil’ Slugger will get to them…oh wait I forgot we had this conversation before about me living in a world of TV characters. Damn you Adult Swim…lol

    Anyway what you should do is capitalize certian letters in various lines that spell out something like “WHO EVER COPIES THIS IS A D-BAG” or what not.

    And to you tpol. Yeah, uh huh, HHog is not a man. This is coming from a person who made an account to probably bash this whole issue on the transcripts. So does that make you a man?

    #75298
    theFrey
    Participant
    Berzerker wrote:

    And to you tpol. Yeah, uh huh, HHog is not a man. This is coming from a person who made an account to probably bash this whole issue on the transcripts. So does that make you a man?

    Yeah!!! Let’s hear it for Opinionated Pennsylvanians! Woooot! No effort is too great if you have a b*tch. TheSpouse, theBrother and I get in much trouble here in Texas-land for stuff like this. ๐Ÿ˜€ You can take the poster out of Pennsylvania, but you can’t take the attitude out of Pennsylvanians. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    *sniff* so… proud… *sniff* ๐Ÿ˜‰

    #75317
    mandara k
    Participant

    ๐Ÿ˜† ๐Ÿ˜† ๐Ÿ˜†
    Gee, a Pennsylvanian who puts people in their place. Is that a trait you only pick up in Pennsylvania ?

    #75331
    Pendle
    Participant
    Berzerker wrote:

    And to you tpol. Yeah, uh huh, HHog is not a man. This is coming from a person who made an account to probably bash this whole issue on the transcripts. So does that make you a man?

    Ooops ! funny I also thought HHog was a man, sorry Ms/Mrs Hedgehog ๐Ÿ™„ And whatever else you said, which doesnt make the slightest bit of sense. โ“

    #75342
    theFrey
    Participant
    ”mandara wrote:

    ๐Ÿ˜† ๐Ÿ˜† ๐Ÿ˜†
    Gee, a Pennsylvanian who puts people in their place. Is that a trait you only pick up in Pennsylvania ?

    Nope, we also learn to worship at the feet of the Pennsylvania Dutch bakers. Bushel Cookies Rule!

    #75343
    theFrey
    Participant

    Ummm, Headgehog is a guy. ๐Ÿ˜€ You have my word upon it. ๐Ÿ˜†

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