Day: April 27, 1980

Future Cop: the lawsuit

Future CopWriters Harlan Ellison and Ben Bova win a copyright infringement/breach of contract lawsuit against Paramount Television, ex-Paramount exec Terry Keegan, and ABC-TV over the short-lived 1976/77 TV series Future Cop, which they contend that the studio and network launched within months of an option lapsing on Brillo, an Ellison/Bova “robot cop” pilot script submitted in 1973. After a four-year wait to get the case into court, a jury takes only four weeks to find that the similarities between Brillo and Future Cop outweigh the differences, and award the writers $182,500 in compensatory damages and $154,500 in punitive damages, falling a bit short of the $3,000,000 sought. Ellison spends part of his proceeds from the suit to buy a billboard across from Paramount Pictures bearing the warning, “Writers, don’t let them steal from you!”

More about Future Cop in the LogBook
Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

Galactica 1980: Space Croppers

Galactica 1980The ninth episode of a vastly retooled Battlestar Galactica (or, depending on how you look at it, the show’s 30th episode) premieres on ABC. Dana Elcar, Bill Cort and Ned Romero guest star.

More about Galactica: 1980 in the LogBook