Eridani Light Horse lawsuit

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In what colloquially became known as the Eridani Light Horse lawsuit among the BattleTech fan base, plaintiff Scott "Calbeck" Malcomson unsuccessfully sued Topps, Inc. for joint ownership of the BattleTech intellectual property. The dispute was rooted in a piece of fiction pertaining to the history of the Eridani Light Horse (ELH) mercenary unit written by Malcomson that had been published online on what was then the official BattleTech website for a time, without author attribution; many circumstantial details remained disputed.

Background

Scenario Pack draft

In the early 1990s, BattleTech fan Scott Malcomson contacted FASA proposing to write a novel centering on the Eridani Light Horse, a high-profile unit within the BattleTech universe that however had very little information about it published at that point. FASA declined the proposal, but suggested Malcomson write a scenario pack centering on the unit 'on spec', which meant FASA retained the option to reject the work even after Malcomson submitted his completed manuscript. Malcomson subsequently submitted a manuscript in 1993. The work on this submission continued into 1996, with several letters concerning its content exchanged between Malcomson and FASA; FASA determined not to publish the submission in September 1996.[1]

FASA ceased active operations in January of 2001, and the BattleTech IP was transferred to WizKids LLC, who in turn licensed the rights to what was now branded as Classic BattleTech to FanPro. WizKids was bought by Topps, Inc., in 2003.

Roy Calbeck character

Malcomson had adopted the character of Sergeant Roy Calbeck, using "Calbeck" as his handle and also as his alter ego and Fursona.

In BattleTech canon, he had been named as a Galleon tank commander with the 71st Light Horse Regiment of the Eridani Light Horse in the original 1987 Mercenary's Handbook but had virtually no other information published about him. In the ELH history as written by Malcomson, the 71st was effectively annihilated in a disastrous battle on Orkney against Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Steel Viper, with Roy Calbeck the only survivor after the Clan forces returned to massacre the wounded.

Website

In 2001 WizKids/FanPro adopted classicbattletech.com as the official Classic BattleTech website; it had previously been a private website maintained by BattleTech fan Warner Doles.

No later than October 2001 this website, listing WizKids LLC as its primary owner and operator at the time, published a History section for the Eridani Light Horse that had been written by Malcomson (implicitly, it had been part of the aforementioned submission) without crediting or mentioning him. Although a portion of the site had been set aside for fan fiction and art, the material was incorporated into the site's official online database for articles pertinent to various in-game factions.[2] The history sections for other factions were apparently all taken directly from canonical BattleTech publications.

While the court documents do not dwell on the origin of the text, according to Malcomson a web admin testified that it had been "copypasta'ed" from Malcomson's own private website,[citation needed] incidentally suggesting Malcomson had himself published it online there first.

It remains unclear if the original ELH history write-up was uploaded to the website before or after it became the official Classic BattleTech website.

On discovery of this, Malcomson lodged a complaint with the site's webmaster and threatened legal action,[1] allegedly receiving an apology in response followed by a request to continue using the work.[citation needed] Malcomson then submitted a revised submission of his work which was subsequently used instead of the initial ELH history text;[1] the exact circumstances remained disputed.[1] This time, Malcomson was credited on the article's page and in the website's formal "Credits" section.[3]

The revised submission was removed from the website in August 2005.[1]

The dispute escalated to the point where Malcomson, who engaged in "Furry" fandom, insisted that the Roy Calbeck character from BattleTech had a near-death experience and literally turned into an anthropomorphic unicorn (which went beyond the original text at the center of the argument).

Lawsuit

Malcomson apparently believed that the publication of his work in the canonical section of the official homepage, under WizKids' aegis and with WizKids and FanPro copyright notes, meant that his work had deliberately been adopted into BattleTech canon. In 2008, he sued Topps, Inc. seeking a declaration of co-ownership of the entire BattleTech property with Topps. This claim was based on having contributed to the work in the sense of co-authorship.

The lawsuit was dismissed on a technicality because Malcomson, appearing pro se, failed to comply with procedural rules, but the court still made it clear that they considered the claim meritless ("Nevertheless, even if the Court takes Malcomson's unsupported factual arguments as true, Malcomson's claim for joint ownership of the BattleTech property is without merit. [...] Even if the Court were to credit the unsupported facts that Malcomson alleges in his briefing, however, Malcomson's claim for joint ownership fails on the merits.").[1] Essentially, the ELH history piece in question was considered too insignificant compared to the rest of BattleTech to be grounds for claims of co-authorship or joint ownership.

The appeal was denied and the Supreme Court refused to hear the matter.

External Links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 According to the "Background" as established in court documents pertaining to the case, specifically the court order dated 1/28/10[1]
  2. An archived version of the page dated 15 January 2002 gives the history section in question, with WizKids, LLC and FanPro, LLC copyright disclaimers at the bottom of the page
  3. Archived version of the credits page dated 4 December 2001, explicitly crediting Scott "Calbeck" Malcomson for the Eridani Light Horse write-up