Quote from: Dash Decent on 19 October, 2023, 09:00:13 AMTwo separate things getting mixed up here. The BBC has given surviving relatives of actors/presentors, as well as the actors themselves, the right to veto repeat broadcasts of old programming.Quote from: Lorenzo on 18 October, 2023, 09:48:20 PMWhat is it with the BBC giving family members veto rights over ancient broadcasts? There is no legal or contractual basis for this.
That's not right. Back then the writer retained the IP. That's why Terry Nation (and subsequently his estate) own the Daleks.
Back in the sixties and seventies, many writers of Doctor Who episodes negotiated over control of characters (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart) and monsters (Daleks , K9) so that they retained a say in any further use of their IP. In the case of Terry Nation he managed to secure ownership of the character rights out of the BBC and also writer's privilege over any story involving the Daleks. He had big plans to take them to the US and wanted the right to go it alone. He didn't have copyright over the design though as that was actually owned by Ray Cusick (working directly for the BBC) and Shawcraft Models who actually built the things. His estate still retains the same rights today which is why when Doctor Who was rebooted there was some very public bitching between the "Nation Estate" and the BBC about bringing the Daleks back.