Coburn estate suing BBC over Doctor Who

[Lissa]

I'm literally staggered by this. Not by the implicit greed but because I made this story up some years ago after reading a book about how the unofficial Bond film Never Say Never Again came out. It is even mentioned quite a lot in the upcoming Dennis Brent serial so I'm boggled by the news that it might actually be happening.

The BBC is being sued over the ownership of the copyright of the TARDIS, by the son of the author of the first Doctor Who story, Anthony Coburn.

Stef Coburn is claiming that his father created the TARDIS, seen in the very first episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child, shown on 23 November 1963. He claims that he remembers his father getting the inspiration for the TARDIS during a walk on Wimbledon common. He believes the BBC is failing to give his father "the public recognition that should by rights always have been his due" for inventing the Tardis.

Anthony Coburn was a staff writer for the BBC when he was commissioned to produce scripts for the proposed new science fiction series. He inherited a concept for the show which had been produced by script writer Cecil Edwin Webber in which much of the structure of the programme had already been defined. In the original document the spaceship is described as something "humdrum, say, .... such as a night-watchman's shelter"

Stef Coburn's case is that any informal permission his father gave the BBC to use his work, expired with his death in 1977 and the copyright of all of his ideas passed to his widow, Joan. Earlier this year she passed it on to him. He told the Independent

It is by no means my wish to deprive legions of Doctor Who fans (of whom I was never one) of any aspect of their favourite children's programme. The only ends I wish to accomplish, by whatever lawful means present themselves, involve bringing about the public recognition that should by rights always have been his due, of my father James Anthony Coburn's seminal contribution to Doctor Who, and proper lawful recompense to his surviving estate.
The BBC says it is looking into the complaint. A repeat run of a restored version of the very first story, An Unearthly Child, was announced in September, but then removed from schedules 'pending the resolution of issues'. The BBC have yet to confirm these issues have been resolved.

This is not the first time the BBC has been involved in litigation over the TARDIS. In 1996 the London Metropolitan Police argued it should own the trade mark of blue box, objecting to the BBC using the image of the TARDIS on comics, T-shirts, videos and other merchandise. It lost the case, following appeal, in 2002, and was ordered to pay £850 plus legal costs to the BBC.

[Wayne]

Now Mr Coburn's son claims that the BBC has been in breach of copyright since his father's death in 1977.

So why wait until now?

[Andrew Curnow]

L O L A, Lola...?

Stupid story though, how daft - is the claim that he chose the police box? Clearly not the idea of something everyday, and clearly he didn't invent the police box (the police having done that themselves some years before), so....

And surely, although I'm no Perry Mason, I would suggest that perhaps when Anthony Coburn was employed to write the first four episodes he was contracted which presumably covered just this sort of thing - I would assume even the casual BBC of the 60s didn't operate on "informal permission" at the time...?

[Dirk Gently]

So why wait until now?

Perhaps because...

...the copyright of all of his ideas passed to his widow, Joan. Earlier this year she passed it on to him.

This is just another Ray Cusick all over again. And will probably get the same result.

[Rob McCow]

Why bother?

Also, he really needs to prove that he invented the TARDIS. How is he going to do that, short of going back in time?

[Philipnet]

Doctor Who fans (of whom I was never one)

That says it all.

He's not a fan and with the return of some missing episodes and the 50th anniversary, he's trying to cash in!

[Dino]

So how did that lawsuit end up of that man who claimed he invented Davros in 1973 again?

[dalekkiller]

Greedy Bastard

[Dino]

Oh look out... now Ian Levine has got involved on Twitter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lb3MTlIrC4 music seemed appropriate!

[dalekkiller]

For once I agree with Levine although he is talking Balls about the New Series

[Zbigniev Hamson]

What's he said then? I'm buggered if I'm searching on Twitter for him.

[dalekkiller]

Having braved to look at his Twitter feed he basically says Coburn is a bastard and he's claiming that only two episodes have been made this year

[SiHart]

he's claiming that only two episodes have been made this year

He's been banging on about all year, like he deserves more.

[dalekkiller]

I know I mean he's lying isn't he?

[Andrew Curnow]

Well, he's right that only two episodes have been made this year (so far anyway) but... as is often the case with Mr L, that fact is not really relevant at all to the business of the Coburn estate. (A bit like he often shoehorns in that he saved The Daleks, even when it's not relevant!)

[dalekkiller]

The Guardian has an article on the situation

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...laim-copyright

getting really worried about the situation now

[MacNimon]

I don't really understand it, to be honest. Even if he did create the TARDIS, surely it was as a commisioned piece of work for the BBC for a tv series broadcast by the BBC? I could understand it if he had created it beforehand and possibly adapted it for the series, but back in 1963 what jobbing tv writer would create a time/space machine which is bigger on the inside, which he had no previous use for, without being asked to do so? If detailed proof that Coburn had the idea previous to his work on DW could be found, he may have a case, but otherwise...

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Well Mr Nation managed to pull it off didn't he. And those Quark guys, for what that was worth.

[dalekkiller]

yes but this is different isn't it? If he wins the BBC will owe him Millions and The TARDIS will have to change shape

[SiHart]

I believe that is enough evidence to dispute his claim- so some of the fans who've researched the early days of the show seem to think anyway.

[Andrew Curnow]

It all seems a load of old tosh, I am genuinely surprised that anybody is worried by it. The BBC of course will have a duty to respond to any official legal moves, but I don't for one minute think they're losing sleep over it.

[SiHart]

Luckily Doctor Who is the most documented and researched TV show ever, so I'm sure all his claims can be debunked by the available paperwork from the archives. The BBC aren't going to let Doctor Who lose the TARDIS are they?

[SiHart]

According to a letter in The Times tody someone else entirely had the idea for the Police Box TARDIS...

[Dirk Gently]

That'll put enough doubt of its origins to scupper the case, unless Coburn Jr can produce written proof it was solely his Father's idea/concept.

[Nyder]

Even that letter rang alarm bells for me. They mentioned Time Lords - hmmm I thought they were first mentioned in The War Games...