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How Arnold Schwarzenegger Made Millions From A Stolen Screenplay
The newest bombshell exposing the real character of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I've been writing to various organizations and parties and asking them to help me find an entertainment attorney and file a lawsuit against the producers of “Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines” to seek damages. I'm wishing to file suit against Arnold Schwarzenegger, Warner Brothers, Intermedia, IMF(a German investment group), C-2 Pictures, Mario Kassar, Andrew Vajna, film director James Cameron and a literary agent named Victor West.
I have very compelling evidence showing how elements from several different drafts a Terminator 3 script I was working on for nearly 10 years was stolen by the above mentioned parties and used in "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines".
Please bear with me as I lay out the entire history of how I wrote the Terminator 3 script. It's long and winding but it makes several connections to the parties mentioned above.
1992
After watching the movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” in February of 1992, I began putting pen to paper and writing a treatment for a Terminator 3 film. The very first draft of the treatment for the Terminator 3 script was written on note book paper and I still have it.
1993
In the fall of 1993, I used the computers at the local community college I was attending, to type up the very first draft of a treatment for a story I called "Terminator 3: Armageddon". Basically, the treatment laid out a story of how two terminators were sent back in time to kill the character John Connor. One Terminator(played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) would be evil for half of the script until he was reprogrammed by John and his mother Sarah.
Throughout 1993, I began to write letters to literary agents asking them to look at my treatment. After several rejection letters, I began writing letters to Lightstorm Entertainment, the production company owned by James Cameron.
I received a response from Lightstorm telling me they didn't accept unsolicited submissions.
About a week later, I received a very strange mailing from Lightstorm. I received a photocopied article about Hollywood producer Barry Diller. Within the article were underlined sentences about an Apple Powerbook computer and how he used it in the business. I interpreted these underlined phrases in the article as hints from someone inside Lightstorm Entertainment to buy an Apple Macintosh Computer to work on my script; which is exactly what I did. I bought a Macintosh LCIII through the reseller program at my local community college.
Stranger still is what was written on the photocopied article; the names "Jim, Stan, Scott, Rae, B.B.". Two years later I would discover the significance of the first three names when Digital Domain, the special effects company founded by James Cameron, established it's presence on the internet. It turns out the founders of Digital Domain were James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross. In other words; "Jim, Stan, Scott".
I still have this photocopied article as evidence someone in Lightstorm Entertainment was sending me hints to continue working on my treatment(later a script). I was unknowingly being set up for the theft of my script.
1994
In early 1994, I began to publish my Terminator 3 treatment on the dial-up computer service called CompuServe. I posted the treatment(and later the script) in the Screen writing section. I began to promote the script and I would run into resistance from other users on CompuServe and the dialogue degraded into a "flame war" with the users and myself tossing a lot of infantile comments at each other. Out of frustration and inexperience in dealing with the entertainment business, I made a couple of disparaging remarks about Cameron himself which I later apologized for publicly.
Around the same time as my troubles on CompuServe began, I received an E-mail about a literary agency called Pacific Literary Services. A literary agent named Victor West offered to read my script for a fee. I sent a copy of my 185 page script to Mr. West and he did a marketing analysis of my script. I read the marketing analysis and even though he claimed that the script wasn't marketable, I still believed in it.
Within the marketing analysis, Mr. West described a possible marketing scenario for my very long screenplay. He suggested that I cut my script into two scripts, one called Terminator 3 and one called Terminator 4. This suggestion was very strange since he already claimed by script was unmarketable. He suggested that I end "Terminator 3" with the nuclear war started by the machines. This is a VERY IMPORTANT POINT because the current Terminator film, "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" ends with the machines starting the nuclear war; the very suggestion made to me by Mr. West in 1994.
I had also written a letter to Oak Productions, the production company in Santa Monica owned by Arnold Schwarzenegger and explained my script. I received a letter from a Mr. Lou Pitt, who worked for Schwarzenegger telling me they didn't accept unsolicited submissions. I wrote back and made the amateurish mistake of explaining to Mr. Pitt that Victor West was representing my script. I still have copies of Mr. Pitts and Mr. Wests letters.
I very quickly received a letter from Mr. West threatening me with legal action if I continued to claim that he was representing me. I sent an E-mail to Mr. Wests agency asking for my Terminator 3 script back but Mr. West never sent it and apparently kept it.
On August 23, 1994, I registered the 1994 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script with the Writer's Guild of America, West. Here's the registration number and effective dates of the registration;
Material Title: Terminator 3: Armageddon
Registration No: 568406
Processing Date: 8/23/94
Registration Type: Mail
Registered By: Perez, Daniel L.
Expiration Date: 08/17/99
Effective Date: 8/17/94
Effective Time: 17:00:00
Material Type: SP(screenplay)
1995
Throughout 1995 I began working on a new draft of the “Terminator 3: Armageddon” script and registered it with the United States Copyright Office;
1996 Draft Copyright Registration
Title of This Work: Terminator 3: Armageddon
Registration Number: PAu 2-047-047
Registration Date: December 11th, 1995
I had finally decided to copyright my script to protect it. Even though U.S. Copyright rules say you may have to get permission to copyright a derivative work, the strange mailing from LightStorm Entertainment in 1993, urging me to get an Apple computer and essentially keep working on the script, was a very subtle form of permission to continue. The very fact that I was never sued or directly contacted by Cameron's people at LightStorm Entertainment all of these years proves they were allowing me to continue with the Terminator 3 script on purpose.
1996
By early 1996 I kept promoting my Terminator 3: Armageddon screenplay with Usenet posts on the internet and kept working on the new draft of the script. I finally decided to start a website on Geocities web server at the following address;
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2900/
and I posted the 1996 draft of the Terminator 3: Armageddon script on the Internet.
After E-mailing lots of people about my script and putting posts on Usenet promoting the script, which can be found on Google Groups -- http://groups.google.com -- it finally caught the attention of a British movie magazine called "Empire".
Meanwhile in 1996, I found another script critiquing service on the Internet. The owner of the service was more sympathetic to my cause and offered several pointers on how to rework the 1996 draft of my script. I won't name the person publicly because I don't want to damage that person's career in any way.
In October 1996, the article on my script appeared in "Empire";
Empire Page 62
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2900/archives/empire/page_1.jpg
Empire Page 63
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2900/archives/empire/page_2.jpg
The editors of "Empire" graciously sent me a copy of their magazine and I still have it as evidence.
After the article came out, I was also invited to do an interview on a Norwegian radio station later that year. Soon afterwards there was a total media blackout about the script.
Even with the media blackout, I still wrote a new draft of the “Terminator 3: Armageddon” script which featured the "female terminator" for the very first time.
On November 29th, 1996, I registered the upcoming 1997 draft of my script with the United States Copyright Office;
1997 Draft Copyright Registration
Title of This Work: Terminator 3: Armageddon
Registration Number: PAu 2-153-060
Registration Date: November 29th, 1996
1997
In 1997, I finally set up my own web domain called;
http://www.terminator3armageddon.com
which can be found on the internet archive;
http://web.archive.org/web/20011031030156/terminator3armageddon.com/laptop.
html
I had originally posted the 1996 draft of the Terminator 3 script on the website and later posted the 1997 draft of the Terminator 3 script on August 29th, 1997;
http://web.archive.org/web/20011119172659/terminator3armageddon.com/t3script.
html
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2900/t3script.html
1998
Throughout 1998 I kept promoting my script to no avail and I delved into other endeavors on my website, including conspiracy theories, for entertainment and keeping my writing skills active.
1999
On October 25th, 1999, I received an E-mail from the Hollywood security firm Gavin De Becker from an e-mail address at their website; gdbinc.com. The message sent by a Ryan Ross, who works for Gavin De Becker, said that I listed an inappropriate mail address for James Cameron on my website and the complaint was made by none other than James Cameron himself;
---------------
Received: from outmail3.pacificnet.net [207.171.0.14] by mx04 via mtad (2.6) with ESMTP id 943DJyREj0150M04; Mon, 25 Oct 1999 17:30:35 GMT
Received: from cal (pm3d-34.pacificnet.net [207.171.18.179]) by outmail3.pacificnet.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id KAA28068 for <t3armageddon [at] usa.net>; Mon, 25 Oct 1999 10:30:23 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <000701bf1f0f$709d7100$5a6509c0@cal>
From: "Ryan Ross" <rross [at] gdbinc.com>
To: <t3armageddon [at] usa.net>
Subject: Celebrity Addresses
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 10:36:12 -0700
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0004_01BF1ED4.C268A080"
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.2106.4
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4
Dear Sir or Madam:
We are a security consulting firm that handles safety and privacy issues for public figures. It has come to our attention that you are providing inappropriate addresses for one of our clients. To formalize our request, we would like to be certain that the addresses you presently list for our client be removed from the list and that your site only display the following authorized address:
James Cameron
919 Santa Monica Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Our client appreciates your efforts to be certain that an appropriate address is printed in your directory, and that you avoid printing an addresses which may pose hazard to his safety, privacy, or well-being.
I realize that your cooperation will involve some effort on your part and I again extend our appreciation. Please contact me at our email address to confirm receipt and implementation of this request.
Thank you,
Ryan Ross
Case Manager
-----------------
The address was apparently for James Cameron's home in Malibu, California at the time and I didn't realize it because I assumed many publicists for celebrities work out of offices set up in their homes after watching news stories on entertainment programs like Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight.
This e-mail was another piece of the paper-trail linking my script to James Cameron, his colleagues, Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, the current producers of Terminator 3 who helped James Cameron produce Terminator 2 via Carloco Pictures in 1991. After Carloco went bankrupt in the mid-1990's, Kassar and Vajna revived Carloco as C-2 Pictures which is one of the production companies involved in Terminator 3. Cameron had already known of the existence of my script from 1993 because of the strange photo-copied article that was sent to me.
Cameron's awareness of my script may be the real reason he opted out of directing Terminator 3 and letting someone else take the helm. It's very possible Cameron needed to create an atmosphere of plausible deniability in order to avoid any links to my script. Unfortunately the E-mail from the Gavin De Becker security firm destroys that illusion because it proves Cameron was aware of my script and my website.
Even though Cameron is one of the best directors of our time, he does have a track record of borrowing other peoples work and has been sued for it before;
1984 - HARLAN ELLISON VS JAMES CAMERON
-------
James Cameron was sued by science fiction author Harlan Ellison after Cameron "borrowed" elements of two of Ellisons science fiction stories, "Demon With A Glass Hand" and "Soldier", and incorporated elements from both stories into "The Terminator". Ellison sued Cameron and won. Now every copy of "The Terminator" includes Harlan Ellisons name at the beginning of the end credits.
Source;
http://www.wordsfromhere.com/cameron_week.html
Here's some more information on Ellison vs Cameron;
"James Cameron's Terminator movie apparently impinged on the copyright of an "Outer Limits" episode written by Ellison; the results appear to include that Ellison did well financially on the movie, and that Cameron still gets upset at the very mention of Harlan Ellison. Sounds to me like Ellison used some of his very special non-writing skills in this case..."
Source;
http://cbbrowne.com/info/sfother.html
1997 - SALLY MANN VS JAMES CAMERON
-------
Cameron was sued by controversial photographer Sally Mann after Cameron copied one of her photos as a "sketch" and used it in the film "Titanic". Cameron settled out of court in a sealed agreement and the amount of money involved apparently set records for out of court settlements. Here's the text from the Newyorkmetro.com website;
"At this year’s academy Awards ceremony, Titanic’s James Cameron was feted as a filmmaker of many talents -- director, producer, editor, king. One talent that went unrewarded that night, however, was his drawing ability, which was also highlighted in the film. Indeed, in one beloved scene, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character shows Kate Winslet’s character his sketch book full of charcoals of nude women, drawings that Cameron himself has happily claimed credit for producing.
The director, however, has been somewhat less forthcoming about admitting that three of these sketches bear a striking resemblance to famous photographs: Sally Mann’s Rodney Plogger at 6:01, Alfred Stieglitz’s Georgia O’Keeffe, Hands, 1920, and Brassaï’s “Bijou” of Montmartre. Before the film’s release, however, none of these artists (or their estates) had granted permission for the works to be used, and their appearance in the film raised eyebrows throughout the art world."
Source;
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/2825/
2000 - ELEMENTS OF JAMES CAMERONS “DARK ANGEL” BORROWED FROM “BATTLE ANGEL”
----
According to a message posted on the internet, Cameron also apparently borrowed elements for his FOX television series "Dark Angel" from a Japanese science fiction series called "Battle Angel";
-------------
From: "Pook!" <iamapook [at] strangepaths.com>
Subject: Re: Why has Fox registered battleangelalita.com?
Date: 28 Aug 2000 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <39AAE80C.B4A4CC2F [at] strangepaths.com>
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
References: <20000827154609.08092.00003414 [at] ng-cg1.aol.com> <39A974A6.33F86F16 [at] ibm-pc.org> <39A9C596.F7F49469 [at] usa.net>
X-Accept-Language: en
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
X-Complaints-To: abuse [at] earthlink.net
X-Trace: newsread03.prod.itd.earthlink.net 967501760 209.179.44.191 (Mon, 28 Aug 2000 15:29:20 PDT)
Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net
MIME-Version: 1.0
NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 15:29:20 PDT
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime.misc
Dyson wrote:
>
> > It's been a long-running rumor, yes. I wouldn't make too much of the
> > domain name being registered; movie studios often do that even if
> > they're just thinking about making a movie, to prevent cybersquatters
> > from swiping the name.
> >
>
> Not a rumor, but not in production. The official info is that
> Lightstorm
> (James Cameron's company) is trying to get the rights to Gunmn. They
> went to Viz, and Viz pointed them to the actual property holders.
>
> All of this has been verified by Lightstorm, Viz, and Fox, so
> it's not a rumor, it's just not happening yet. It's in what folks
> call "development hell."
Of course, the LATEST off the rumor mill is speculation about what seems
to be from the limited information people have so far an unusual amount
of similarities between James Cameron's "Dark Angel" and the original
"Battle Angel" (Gunm) leading to people starting to think that maybe he
got fed up with waiting for the rights to Battle Angel and went to Fox's
TV unit to make a series instead by just changing the details enough to
not get sued.
--Pook! ^_^
-------------------
Cameron's track record of "borrowing" material will turn any kind of smoke into a blazing inferno. Connecting this to Cameron's awareness of my script(via Gavin De Becker and the strange mailing from Lightstorm Entertainment in 1993) and his business dealings with Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, turns the inferno of "borrowing" material into a nuclear explosion of outright thievery when it comes to my "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script and all of it's variations.
THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN VARIOUS DRAFTS OF “TERMINATOR 3: ARMAGEDDON” AND “TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES”
There are several similarities between "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" and different drafts of "Terminator 3: Armageddon";
CHARACTERS
TX - FEMALE TERMINATOR
The Female Terminator has many similarities to the Female Terminator in the 1997 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script.
Both are 6 foot tall blondes, who can morph like the T-1000 in Terminator 2 but can also shoot plasma energy out of their hands.
The Female Terminator in my script and in the "Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines" can turn their finger into an interface and plug into a computer or machine.
GENERAL BREWSTER
General Brewster is an Air Force General who is in charge of Sky-Net has many similarities to the General Harris and Steve Ferguson characters in the 1997 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script.
General Harris in all the drafts of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script(as well as the original treatment) is in charge of the Sky-Net system in an underground complex which is connected into everything, including the Internet. Colonel Reese, who is General Harris’s second in command in the “Terminator 3: Armageddon” script has buzz cut blond hair, just like General Brewster in “Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines”.
Steve Ferguson, who is the ultimate creator of Sky-Net in my script, bases the creation of Sky-Net on self-learning computer programs called "genetic algorithms".
In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, General Brewster is a composite character of General Harris and Steve Ferguson in regards to the creation and deployment of Sky-Net, a system based on self-learning and replicating computer programs connected to the internet.
Like Steve Ferguson in all the drafts of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script, General Brewster is the "key to everything".
PLOT SIMILARITIES
CAR CHASE IN BEGINNING OF MOVIE
In the 1994 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script, John Connor is chased while driving a black pickup truck with the Terminator chasing him on a motorcycle.
In the 1997 draft, the Terminator is sent to protect John from the Female Terminator. In "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", John Connor is chased while driving a dark colored pickup truck. The Terminator chases the truck on a motorcycle in order to protect John from the Female Terminator.
DR. SILBERMANS APPEARANCE AND SHOCK OF SEEING TERMINATORS
In the 1994 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script, I had Dr. Silberman counseling Sarah Connor. The Terminators arrived and later Dr. Silberman was in absolute shock at seeing the Terminators. In "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", Dr. Silberman counseled Kate Brewster(replacement for Sarah Connor in T3), the Terminators arrived and Dr. Silberman was in absolute shock at seeing the Terminator.
TAKEOVER BY MACHINES
In both the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script and "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", military personnel at the facility housing Sky-Net are killed when H-K's(hunter-killers) and other robots moving around the facility fire their machine guns at humans.
GENERAL BREWSTER/STEVE FERGUSON DEATHS
General Brewster gets shot by the Female Terminator and dies in "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" just like Steve Ferguson gets shot by the Female Terminator in the 1997 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script and dies.
DISRUPTING THE LIQUID METAL TERMINATOR
In the 1994 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script, John Connor uses high voltage of an arc welder to deactivate the liquid metal of the T-1000(later the Female Terminator in later drafts of the script). In "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", John Connor uses the electromagnetic field of a particle accelerator to deactivate the liquid metal of the Female Terminator.
NUCLEAR WARHEAD DESTROYING LOS ANGELES
In all drafts of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script, I had written a scene in the script where it shows high altitude shot of downtown Los Angeles as a nuclear warhead descended and destroyed the city. In "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" there was a high altitude shot of Los Angeles while a nuclear warhead descended and destroyed the city.
SURVIVAL OF JOHN CONNOR THROUGH THE NUCLEAR WAR
In "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", John Connor survives the nuclear war in an underground bunker. In all drafts of the Terminator 3: Armageddon script(1994, 1996 and 1997) as well as the 1993 Treatment of "Terminator 3: Armageddon", John Connor survives the nuclear war inside an underground bunker/fallout shelter.
END OF "TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES"
The ending of "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" ends with the nuclear war. In 1994, Victor West, the Pacific Literary Services literary agent who reviewed my 1994 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script first suggested that my script be split into two scripts; Terminator 3 and Terminator 4. Mr. West suggested that Terminator 3 end with the "nuclear war". After my falling out and legal threat from Mr. West, he never sent my "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script back. Mr. West is one of the key elements in the theft of my script along with James Cameron.
Also the shots of the nuclear missiles taking off from the silo fields located in the North Dakota countryside(with farms in the background) in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" is in all the drafts of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script.
-------------
As you can clearly see, I have evidence linking my script to James Cameron and very likely his associates Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna since they bought the rights to the Terminator films from Cameron and his producing partner Gale Anne Hurd.
The similarities between "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" and the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script as well as my falling out with Victor West back in 1994 further solidifies this link.
Today, there are websites on the internet describing many complaints made against Mr. West and Pacific Literary Services in regards to helping new writers;
PREDITORS AND EDITORS RESPONSE TO A VICTOR WEST LEGAL THREAT
“Our Response Sent on 6 Dec. 97
Dear Sir,
In response to your email letter to Preditors and Editors received on 4 December 1997, I have visited your web site. Though your web site makes reference to your possession of legally admissible documents as mentioned in your email letter, I found no such documents displayed on the site.
Preditors and Editors is dedicated solely to assisting writers. It has a standing and publicly displayed policy of publishing warning advisements within its site concerning any businesses or individuals we learn of about for whom complaints are circulating. That policy is repeated here for your benefit. "Preditors and Editors is not stating that the following listed businesses or people should be avoided by writers. What we are stating is that complaints have been circulated about them. Therefore, you should use extra caution if dealing with any of the following. Follow the links for more information on what complaints exist." Indeed, if you check the Preditors and Editors site, you'll also find that we admonish writers to use caution in dealing with anyone.
Inasmuch as there are complaints circulating about Pacific Literary Services and you, Preditors and Editors stands on its decision to retain your organization on its warnings list until such time as proof is shown that the complaints are unfounded. This email letter response and your first email letter to Preditors and Editors will also be displayed as a link on the warnings page. At the same time, you might be pleased to know that we also list your site without a warning in the editing services section and have posted a link to your web site on the warnings page so that you might tell your side. We do believe in fair play and we are not trying to deprive you of your ability to earn a livelihood.
Cordially,
David L. Kuzminski
Editor, Preditors and Editors
Source: http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubwarn2.htm
----------------
This further solidifies the accusation that I was the victim of a disreputable agent who would become part of the chain of events, including James Cameron's knowledge of my script, which led up to the theft of elements from various versions of my "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script which were later inserted into the movie "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines".
I have recently put my website back up on a new internet domain;
http://www.t3armageddon.com
You can access the 1996 and 1997 scripts here;
http://www.t3armageddon.com/t3scripts.html
Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger has personally profited from a movie based on my stolen script, to the tune of $30 Million dollars, this is a political train wreck for his candidacy in the California governors race.
The fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger profited from a movie based on a script stolen from a Hispanic will not play well in California since a large percentage of California voters are Hispanic.
My rights as a writer and a minority have been violated by the theft of my "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script by Arnold Schwarzenegger and his associates and I’m seeking justice.
If you wish to help me seek justice, here's how you can do it.
I'm asking everyone who is concerned about the character and integrity of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his run for the Governors office of California to E-mail this story to everyone they know in the state of California, to every newspaper in California and to every television station in California.
I have very compelling evidence showing how elements from several different drafts a Terminator 3 script I was working on for nearly 10 years was stolen by the above mentioned parties and used in "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines".
Please bear with me as I lay out the entire history of how I wrote the Terminator 3 script. It's long and winding but it makes several connections to the parties mentioned above.
1992
After watching the movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” in February of 1992, I began putting pen to paper and writing a treatment for a Terminator 3 film. The very first draft of the treatment for the Terminator 3 script was written on note book paper and I still have it.
1993
In the fall of 1993, I used the computers at the local community college I was attending, to type up the very first draft of a treatment for a story I called "Terminator 3: Armageddon". Basically, the treatment laid out a story of how two terminators were sent back in time to kill the character John Connor. One Terminator(played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) would be evil for half of the script until he was reprogrammed by John and his mother Sarah.
Throughout 1993, I began to write letters to literary agents asking them to look at my treatment. After several rejection letters, I began writing letters to Lightstorm Entertainment, the production company owned by James Cameron.
I received a response from Lightstorm telling me they didn't accept unsolicited submissions.
About a week later, I received a very strange mailing from Lightstorm. I received a photocopied article about Hollywood producer Barry Diller. Within the article were underlined sentences about an Apple Powerbook computer and how he used it in the business. I interpreted these underlined phrases in the article as hints from someone inside Lightstorm Entertainment to buy an Apple Macintosh Computer to work on my script; which is exactly what I did. I bought a Macintosh LCIII through the reseller program at my local community college.
Stranger still is what was written on the photocopied article; the names "Jim, Stan, Scott, Rae, B.B.". Two years later I would discover the significance of the first three names when Digital Domain, the special effects company founded by James Cameron, established it's presence on the internet. It turns out the founders of Digital Domain were James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross. In other words; "Jim, Stan, Scott".
I still have this photocopied article as evidence someone in Lightstorm Entertainment was sending me hints to continue working on my treatment(later a script). I was unknowingly being set up for the theft of my script.
1994
In early 1994, I began to publish my Terminator 3 treatment on the dial-up computer service called CompuServe. I posted the treatment(and later the script) in the Screen writing section. I began to promote the script and I would run into resistance from other users on CompuServe and the dialogue degraded into a "flame war" with the users and myself tossing a lot of infantile comments at each other. Out of frustration and inexperience in dealing with the entertainment business, I made a couple of disparaging remarks about Cameron himself which I later apologized for publicly.
Around the same time as my troubles on CompuServe began, I received an E-mail about a literary agency called Pacific Literary Services. A literary agent named Victor West offered to read my script for a fee. I sent a copy of my 185 page script to Mr. West and he did a marketing analysis of my script. I read the marketing analysis and even though he claimed that the script wasn't marketable, I still believed in it.
Within the marketing analysis, Mr. West described a possible marketing scenario for my very long screenplay. He suggested that I cut my script into two scripts, one called Terminator 3 and one called Terminator 4. This suggestion was very strange since he already claimed by script was unmarketable. He suggested that I end "Terminator 3" with the nuclear war started by the machines. This is a VERY IMPORTANT POINT because the current Terminator film, "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" ends with the machines starting the nuclear war; the very suggestion made to me by Mr. West in 1994.
I had also written a letter to Oak Productions, the production company in Santa Monica owned by Arnold Schwarzenegger and explained my script. I received a letter from a Mr. Lou Pitt, who worked for Schwarzenegger telling me they didn't accept unsolicited submissions. I wrote back and made the amateurish mistake of explaining to Mr. Pitt that Victor West was representing my script. I still have copies of Mr. Pitts and Mr. Wests letters.
I very quickly received a letter from Mr. West threatening me with legal action if I continued to claim that he was representing me. I sent an E-mail to Mr. Wests agency asking for my Terminator 3 script back but Mr. West never sent it and apparently kept it.
On August 23, 1994, I registered the 1994 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script with the Writer's Guild of America, West. Here's the registration number and effective dates of the registration;
Material Title: Terminator 3: Armageddon
Registration No: 568406
Processing Date: 8/23/94
Registration Type: Mail
Registered By: Perez, Daniel L.
Expiration Date: 08/17/99
Effective Date: 8/17/94
Effective Time: 17:00:00
Material Type: SP(screenplay)
1995
Throughout 1995 I began working on a new draft of the “Terminator 3: Armageddon” script and registered it with the United States Copyright Office;
1996 Draft Copyright Registration
Title of This Work: Terminator 3: Armageddon
Registration Number: PAu 2-047-047
Registration Date: December 11th, 1995
I had finally decided to copyright my script to protect it. Even though U.S. Copyright rules say you may have to get permission to copyright a derivative work, the strange mailing from LightStorm Entertainment in 1993, urging me to get an Apple computer and essentially keep working on the script, was a very subtle form of permission to continue. The very fact that I was never sued or directly contacted by Cameron's people at LightStorm Entertainment all of these years proves they were allowing me to continue with the Terminator 3 script on purpose.
1996
By early 1996 I kept promoting my Terminator 3: Armageddon screenplay with Usenet posts on the internet and kept working on the new draft of the script. I finally decided to start a website on Geocities web server at the following address;
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2900/
and I posted the 1996 draft of the Terminator 3: Armageddon script on the Internet.
After E-mailing lots of people about my script and putting posts on Usenet promoting the script, which can be found on Google Groups -- http://groups.google.com -- it finally caught the attention of a British movie magazine called "Empire".
Meanwhile in 1996, I found another script critiquing service on the Internet. The owner of the service was more sympathetic to my cause and offered several pointers on how to rework the 1996 draft of my script. I won't name the person publicly because I don't want to damage that person's career in any way.
In October 1996, the article on my script appeared in "Empire";
Empire Page 62
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2900/archives/empire/page_1.jpg
Empire Page 63
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2900/archives/empire/page_2.jpg
The editors of "Empire" graciously sent me a copy of their magazine and I still have it as evidence.
After the article came out, I was also invited to do an interview on a Norwegian radio station later that year. Soon afterwards there was a total media blackout about the script.
Even with the media blackout, I still wrote a new draft of the “Terminator 3: Armageddon” script which featured the "female terminator" for the very first time.
On November 29th, 1996, I registered the upcoming 1997 draft of my script with the United States Copyright Office;
1997 Draft Copyright Registration
Title of This Work: Terminator 3: Armageddon
Registration Number: PAu 2-153-060
Registration Date: November 29th, 1996
1997
In 1997, I finally set up my own web domain called;
http://www.terminator3armageddon.com
which can be found on the internet archive;
http://web.archive.org/web/20011031030156/terminator3armageddon.com/laptop.
html
I had originally posted the 1996 draft of the Terminator 3 script on the website and later posted the 1997 draft of the Terminator 3 script on August 29th, 1997;
http://web.archive.org/web/20011119172659/terminator3armageddon.com/t3script.
html
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2900/t3script.html
1998
Throughout 1998 I kept promoting my script to no avail and I delved into other endeavors on my website, including conspiracy theories, for entertainment and keeping my writing skills active.
1999
On October 25th, 1999, I received an E-mail from the Hollywood security firm Gavin De Becker from an e-mail address at their website; gdbinc.com. The message sent by a Ryan Ross, who works for Gavin De Becker, said that I listed an inappropriate mail address for James Cameron on my website and the complaint was made by none other than James Cameron himself;
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Message-ID: <000701bf1f0f$709d7100$5a6509c0@cal>
From: "Ryan Ross" <rross [at] gdbinc.com>
To: <t3armageddon [at] usa.net>
Subject: Celebrity Addresses
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 10:36:12 -0700
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Dear Sir or Madam:
We are a security consulting firm that handles safety and privacy issues for public figures. It has come to our attention that you are providing inappropriate addresses for one of our clients. To formalize our request, we would like to be certain that the addresses you presently list for our client be removed from the list and that your site only display the following authorized address:
James Cameron
919 Santa Monica Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Our client appreciates your efforts to be certain that an appropriate address is printed in your directory, and that you avoid printing an addresses which may pose hazard to his safety, privacy, or well-being.
I realize that your cooperation will involve some effort on your part and I again extend our appreciation. Please contact me at our email address to confirm receipt and implementation of this request.
Thank you,
Ryan Ross
Case Manager
-----------------
The address was apparently for James Cameron's home in Malibu, California at the time and I didn't realize it because I assumed many publicists for celebrities work out of offices set up in their homes after watching news stories on entertainment programs like Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight.
This e-mail was another piece of the paper-trail linking my script to James Cameron, his colleagues, Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, the current producers of Terminator 3 who helped James Cameron produce Terminator 2 via Carloco Pictures in 1991. After Carloco went bankrupt in the mid-1990's, Kassar and Vajna revived Carloco as C-2 Pictures which is one of the production companies involved in Terminator 3. Cameron had already known of the existence of my script from 1993 because of the strange photo-copied article that was sent to me.
Cameron's awareness of my script may be the real reason he opted out of directing Terminator 3 and letting someone else take the helm. It's very possible Cameron needed to create an atmosphere of plausible deniability in order to avoid any links to my script. Unfortunately the E-mail from the Gavin De Becker security firm destroys that illusion because it proves Cameron was aware of my script and my website.
Even though Cameron is one of the best directors of our time, he does have a track record of borrowing other peoples work and has been sued for it before;
1984 - HARLAN ELLISON VS JAMES CAMERON
-------
James Cameron was sued by science fiction author Harlan Ellison after Cameron "borrowed" elements of two of Ellisons science fiction stories, "Demon With A Glass Hand" and "Soldier", and incorporated elements from both stories into "The Terminator". Ellison sued Cameron and won. Now every copy of "The Terminator" includes Harlan Ellisons name at the beginning of the end credits.
Source;
http://www.wordsfromhere.com/cameron_week.html
Here's some more information on Ellison vs Cameron;
"James Cameron's Terminator movie apparently impinged on the copyright of an "Outer Limits" episode written by Ellison; the results appear to include that Ellison did well financially on the movie, and that Cameron still gets upset at the very mention of Harlan Ellison. Sounds to me like Ellison used some of his very special non-writing skills in this case..."
Source;
http://cbbrowne.com/info/sfother.html
1997 - SALLY MANN VS JAMES CAMERON
-------
Cameron was sued by controversial photographer Sally Mann after Cameron copied one of her photos as a "sketch" and used it in the film "Titanic". Cameron settled out of court in a sealed agreement and the amount of money involved apparently set records for out of court settlements. Here's the text from the Newyorkmetro.com website;
"At this year’s academy Awards ceremony, Titanic’s James Cameron was feted as a filmmaker of many talents -- director, producer, editor, king. One talent that went unrewarded that night, however, was his drawing ability, which was also highlighted in the film. Indeed, in one beloved scene, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character shows Kate Winslet’s character his sketch book full of charcoals of nude women, drawings that Cameron himself has happily claimed credit for producing.
The director, however, has been somewhat less forthcoming about admitting that three of these sketches bear a striking resemblance to famous photographs: Sally Mann’s Rodney Plogger at 6:01, Alfred Stieglitz’s Georgia O’Keeffe, Hands, 1920, and Brassaï’s “Bijou” of Montmartre. Before the film’s release, however, none of these artists (or their estates) had granted permission for the works to be used, and their appearance in the film raised eyebrows throughout the art world."
Source;
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/2825/
2000 - ELEMENTS OF JAMES CAMERONS “DARK ANGEL” BORROWED FROM “BATTLE ANGEL”
----
According to a message posted on the internet, Cameron also apparently borrowed elements for his FOX television series "Dark Angel" from a Japanese science fiction series called "Battle Angel";
-------------
From: "Pook!" <iamapook [at] strangepaths.com>
Subject: Re: Why has Fox registered battleangelalita.com?
Date: 28 Aug 2000 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <39AAE80C.B4A4CC2F [at] strangepaths.com>
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
References: <20000827154609.08092.00003414 [at] ng-cg1.aol.com> <39A974A6.33F86F16 [at] ibm-pc.org> <39A9C596.F7F49469 [at] usa.net>
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Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net
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Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime.misc
Dyson wrote:
>
> > It's been a long-running rumor, yes. I wouldn't make too much of the
> > domain name being registered; movie studios often do that even if
> > they're just thinking about making a movie, to prevent cybersquatters
> > from swiping the name.
> >
>
> Not a rumor, but not in production. The official info is that
> Lightstorm
> (James Cameron's company) is trying to get the rights to Gunmn. They
> went to Viz, and Viz pointed them to the actual property holders.
>
> All of this has been verified by Lightstorm, Viz, and Fox, so
> it's not a rumor, it's just not happening yet. It's in what folks
> call "development hell."
Of course, the LATEST off the rumor mill is speculation about what seems
to be from the limited information people have so far an unusual amount
of similarities between James Cameron's "Dark Angel" and the original
"Battle Angel" (Gunm) leading to people starting to think that maybe he
got fed up with waiting for the rights to Battle Angel and went to Fox's
TV unit to make a series instead by just changing the details enough to
not get sued.
--Pook! ^_^
-------------------
Cameron's track record of "borrowing" material will turn any kind of smoke into a blazing inferno. Connecting this to Cameron's awareness of my script(via Gavin De Becker and the strange mailing from Lightstorm Entertainment in 1993) and his business dealings with Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, turns the inferno of "borrowing" material into a nuclear explosion of outright thievery when it comes to my "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script and all of it's variations.
THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN VARIOUS DRAFTS OF “TERMINATOR 3: ARMAGEDDON” AND “TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES”
There are several similarities between "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" and different drafts of "Terminator 3: Armageddon";
CHARACTERS
TX - FEMALE TERMINATOR
The Female Terminator has many similarities to the Female Terminator in the 1997 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script.
Both are 6 foot tall blondes, who can morph like the T-1000 in Terminator 2 but can also shoot plasma energy out of their hands.
The Female Terminator in my script and in the "Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines" can turn their finger into an interface and plug into a computer or machine.
GENERAL BREWSTER
General Brewster is an Air Force General who is in charge of Sky-Net has many similarities to the General Harris and Steve Ferguson characters in the 1997 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script.
General Harris in all the drafts of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script(as well as the original treatment) is in charge of the Sky-Net system in an underground complex which is connected into everything, including the Internet. Colonel Reese, who is General Harris’s second in command in the “Terminator 3: Armageddon” script has buzz cut blond hair, just like General Brewster in “Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines”.
Steve Ferguson, who is the ultimate creator of Sky-Net in my script, bases the creation of Sky-Net on self-learning computer programs called "genetic algorithms".
In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, General Brewster is a composite character of General Harris and Steve Ferguson in regards to the creation and deployment of Sky-Net, a system based on self-learning and replicating computer programs connected to the internet.
Like Steve Ferguson in all the drafts of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script, General Brewster is the "key to everything".
PLOT SIMILARITIES
CAR CHASE IN BEGINNING OF MOVIE
In the 1994 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script, John Connor is chased while driving a black pickup truck with the Terminator chasing him on a motorcycle.
In the 1997 draft, the Terminator is sent to protect John from the Female Terminator. In "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", John Connor is chased while driving a dark colored pickup truck. The Terminator chases the truck on a motorcycle in order to protect John from the Female Terminator.
DR. SILBERMANS APPEARANCE AND SHOCK OF SEEING TERMINATORS
In the 1994 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script, I had Dr. Silberman counseling Sarah Connor. The Terminators arrived and later Dr. Silberman was in absolute shock at seeing the Terminators. In "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", Dr. Silberman counseled Kate Brewster(replacement for Sarah Connor in T3), the Terminators arrived and Dr. Silberman was in absolute shock at seeing the Terminator.
TAKEOVER BY MACHINES
In both the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script and "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", military personnel at the facility housing Sky-Net are killed when H-K's(hunter-killers) and other robots moving around the facility fire their machine guns at humans.
GENERAL BREWSTER/STEVE FERGUSON DEATHS
General Brewster gets shot by the Female Terminator and dies in "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" just like Steve Ferguson gets shot by the Female Terminator in the 1997 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script and dies.
DISRUPTING THE LIQUID METAL TERMINATOR
In the 1994 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script, John Connor uses high voltage of an arc welder to deactivate the liquid metal of the T-1000(later the Female Terminator in later drafts of the script). In "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", John Connor uses the electromagnetic field of a particle accelerator to deactivate the liquid metal of the Female Terminator.
NUCLEAR WARHEAD DESTROYING LOS ANGELES
In all drafts of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script, I had written a scene in the script where it shows high altitude shot of downtown Los Angeles as a nuclear warhead descended and destroyed the city. In "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" there was a high altitude shot of Los Angeles while a nuclear warhead descended and destroyed the city.
SURVIVAL OF JOHN CONNOR THROUGH THE NUCLEAR WAR
In "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", John Connor survives the nuclear war in an underground bunker. In all drafts of the Terminator 3: Armageddon script(1994, 1996 and 1997) as well as the 1993 Treatment of "Terminator 3: Armageddon", John Connor survives the nuclear war inside an underground bunker/fallout shelter.
END OF "TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES"
The ending of "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" ends with the nuclear war. In 1994, Victor West, the Pacific Literary Services literary agent who reviewed my 1994 draft of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script first suggested that my script be split into two scripts; Terminator 3 and Terminator 4. Mr. West suggested that Terminator 3 end with the "nuclear war". After my falling out and legal threat from Mr. West, he never sent my "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script back. Mr. West is one of the key elements in the theft of my script along with James Cameron.
Also the shots of the nuclear missiles taking off from the silo fields located in the North Dakota countryside(with farms in the background) in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" is in all the drafts of the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script.
-------------
As you can clearly see, I have evidence linking my script to James Cameron and very likely his associates Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna since they bought the rights to the Terminator films from Cameron and his producing partner Gale Anne Hurd.
The similarities between "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" and the "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script as well as my falling out with Victor West back in 1994 further solidifies this link.
Today, there are websites on the internet describing many complaints made against Mr. West and Pacific Literary Services in regards to helping new writers;
PREDITORS AND EDITORS RESPONSE TO A VICTOR WEST LEGAL THREAT
“Our Response Sent on 6 Dec. 97
Dear Sir,
In response to your email letter to Preditors and Editors received on 4 December 1997, I have visited your web site. Though your web site makes reference to your possession of legally admissible documents as mentioned in your email letter, I found no such documents displayed on the site.
Preditors and Editors is dedicated solely to assisting writers. It has a standing and publicly displayed policy of publishing warning advisements within its site concerning any businesses or individuals we learn of about for whom complaints are circulating. That policy is repeated here for your benefit. "Preditors and Editors is not stating that the following listed businesses or people should be avoided by writers. What we are stating is that complaints have been circulated about them. Therefore, you should use extra caution if dealing with any of the following. Follow the links for more information on what complaints exist." Indeed, if you check the Preditors and Editors site, you'll also find that we admonish writers to use caution in dealing with anyone.
Inasmuch as there are complaints circulating about Pacific Literary Services and you, Preditors and Editors stands on its decision to retain your organization on its warnings list until such time as proof is shown that the complaints are unfounded. This email letter response and your first email letter to Preditors and Editors will also be displayed as a link on the warnings page. At the same time, you might be pleased to know that we also list your site without a warning in the editing services section and have posted a link to your web site on the warnings page so that you might tell your side. We do believe in fair play and we are not trying to deprive you of your ability to earn a livelihood.
Cordially,
David L. Kuzminski
Editor, Preditors and Editors
Source: http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubwarn2.htm
----------------
This further solidifies the accusation that I was the victim of a disreputable agent who would become part of the chain of events, including James Cameron's knowledge of my script, which led up to the theft of elements from various versions of my "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script which were later inserted into the movie "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines".
I have recently put my website back up on a new internet domain;
http://www.t3armageddon.com
You can access the 1996 and 1997 scripts here;
http://www.t3armageddon.com/t3scripts.html
Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger has personally profited from a movie based on my stolen script, to the tune of $30 Million dollars, this is a political train wreck for his candidacy in the California governors race.
The fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger profited from a movie based on a script stolen from a Hispanic will not play well in California since a large percentage of California voters are Hispanic.
My rights as a writer and a minority have been violated by the theft of my "Terminator 3: Armageddon" script by Arnold Schwarzenegger and his associates and I’m seeking justice.
If you wish to help me seek justice, here's how you can do it.
I'm asking everyone who is concerned about the character and integrity of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his run for the Governors office of California to E-mail this story to everyone they know in the state of California, to every newspaper in California and to every television station in California.
For more information:
http://www.t3armageddon.com
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
Are you kidding? Do you honestly think that anybody actually buys that bull? They probably already wrote the script for Terminator 3 before the second on was even finished. And Arnold Schwarzenegger had nothing to do with the writting of the film. He says/does what is on the paper...Its his job. He is in no way affiliated with the writting of, or the stealing of scripts. Furthermore, this movie has been out for quite sometime now, has it not? If you have substantial evidence to file a lawsuit, why haven't you done so? And the writters of the film may have been slightly inspired by ideas that were floating around...but your ammature version was not stolen.
you are so wrong this guy is telling the truth or has some credibility becuase i visited his site on may occasions during the years of 1996 to 1999 and read all his scripts there are simalirities in his script and the movie, now i think you are hinting at that fact he wrote the script after T3 or it does exist well im here to tell you he had one b4 the movie came out and i read it back in 1996.
Paul.
Paul.
talk about a "derivative work"
it's almost believable with all of the mea culpas thrown in early on for a manufactured sprinkle of sincerity
but then not one link works and, well, there's just too many holes in the story here
good joke, though
it's almost believable with all of the mea culpas thrown in early on for a manufactured sprinkle of sincerity
but then not one link works and, well, there's just too many holes in the story here
good joke, though
I like how this guy conveniently plays the "race card" at the end. This is what gives him absolutely no credibility. He wasn't comissioned to write this script in the first place. His "script" only serves as meaningless fan-fiction and now, simply a get-rich-scheme.
His ideas were all speculative ideas among fans and EVERY SINGLE OTHER PERSON WHO WATCHED THE MOVIE. He didn't add any ground-breaking new element that was "blatantly ripped off" and the guy knows this. Aside from that, he sent his script to their offices instead of placing the script in the hands of a trusted source (i.e., casting agent, etc) so this guy just needs to shut the fuck up. End of story.
If this guy made this whole complaint up, then he sure went to a lot of effort. Too much. I think it is possible that his ideas have been 'stolen', and i disagree that every fan would have had such detailed ideas for a t3 script. I just feel sorry for him. Reflection will show that he has attempted to market his product in an insecure way. He should have protected his script/ideas better, if that is even possible... I don't know the copyright laws.
I would just like to say that whether or not this person is what he claims to be
terminator 3 rise of the machines aka ARMAGEDDON was ultimately a bad movie with a bad script overall.
I will admit that there were several key elements that fitted perfectly "james cameron's" universe which I love and will always be fateful to..I can only imagine james cameron not wanting to direct T3 because he "had" heard (possibly read) the finished script and with all the nuclear war this character had created he was convinced even if writing a brand new script some of ARMAGEDDON elements would end up in cameron's script ...Obviously obligating cameron to actually say and i quote "I belive the terminator franchise has reached its climax." That said I can only say that it is a shame a true T3 production was never made by its original creator, writer and director...perhaps for the best.
terminator 3 rise of the machines aka ARMAGEDDON was ultimately a bad movie with a bad script overall.
I will admit that there were several key elements that fitted perfectly "james cameron's" universe which I love and will always be fateful to..I can only imagine james cameron not wanting to direct T3 because he "had" heard (possibly read) the finished script and with all the nuclear war this character had created he was convinced even if writing a brand new script some of ARMAGEDDON elements would end up in cameron's script ...Obviously obligating cameron to actually say and i quote "I belive the terminator franchise has reached its climax." That said I can only say that it is a shame a true T3 production was never made by its original creator, writer and director...perhaps for the best.
This is basic IPR law.
It happens. Don't think it's a race thing. My dad was a screenwriter (he was white) and he claimed people kept stealing his ideas. I thought he was paranoid but then I saw some similarities (Reign of Fire, Blood Diamond, and a few others... he had similar premises... the DeBeers movie is really damning though). I think it's well established that Hollywood likes jacking ideas... amusing because they rail on young adults for stealing movies online.
I'm sorry to say, I'm a bit excited for the new Battle Angel movie... I guess he finally got the rights from Yukito Kishiro (on his site he says he did give Cameron permission). (I'm a Gunnm fan.) I would let the Dark Angel one slide though as fan films/works are less stealing. I get really excited when I make cosplay costumes... and that is a form of not upholding the copywrite, right? I think this is because the original work is well established. It's definitely stealing though when it comes from a relatively unknown place. BAA/Gunnm does have a fan-base... It's just like when I was a freshman in high school. I had to write a short story for my honors English class and I was absolutely obsessed with From Hell at the time so I couldn't get away from making the story similar to From Hell. Mine was murder in old London (also in the East End), also had a lady in a red dress (though I was going to make her the killer), and a detective.
I'm sorry to say, I'm a bit excited for the new Battle Angel movie... I guess he finally got the rights from Yukito Kishiro (on his site he says he did give Cameron permission). (I'm a Gunnm fan.) I would let the Dark Angel one slide though as fan films/works are less stealing. I get really excited when I make cosplay costumes... and that is a form of not upholding the copywrite, right? I think this is because the original work is well established. It's definitely stealing though when it comes from a relatively unknown place. BAA/Gunnm does have a fan-base... It's just like when I was a freshman in high school. I had to write a short story for my honors English class and I was absolutely obsessed with From Hell at the time so I couldn't get away from making the story similar to From Hell. Mine was murder in old London (also in the East End), also had a lady in a red dress (though I was going to make her the killer), and a detective.
I read this screenplay a couple times back in 1997 and 98, but I really would like to read it again. From what I remember that screenplay had me crazily excited for this trilogy ender and then T3 actually came out and I was very confused as to who chopped this movie up. Anyways i'd like to find one of the versions of this script somewhere just to read. All of this does worry me though as just a couple years ago I completed my first screenplay and copyrighted it... but i've yet to do anything with it. After hearing so many horror stories and i'm wondering if it's even worth trying...
As someone who has worked in the film industry and has had creative properties sold, I can assure you, the chances of anyone having "stolen" your idea is slim to none. Yes it has happened in the past, but the major issues here, and your losing card in court will ultimately be that you did now own the characters and you were at no point contacted by the Original Content creators and asked to create new original content for thr Terminator series. Because of this blatantly clear fact, and that you were in no way affiliated with the original creators of the Terminator series or the characters in the Terminator series, you're simply someone with a spec script for a Creative Property and Corporation not accepting Spec Scripts. I'm sorry for your troubles, I'm sure this has been a very frustrating situation, but no attorney will represent you on a case like this, because ultimately at the end of the day, you did not own the characters your wrote about, and because Mr. Cameron does he can counter sue you for slandering his name and image on this page, yes this is America and you can "say what you wish" but these are hardcore allegations, with little or no fact to back them up, my advice to you is that you go off and write an Original Content script based on 100% unique characters and ideas and get yourself a Literary Agent or Attorney.
Good Luck
Good Luck
Never except "No" from someone who does not have the position or authority to say "yes".
It's unfortunate that your treatment of Terminator-3: Armegeddon may have been taken from you. However, you should remember that neither the concept nor the characters were ever yours in the first place. And, therefore, you have no claim of ownership.
Had you submitted a completely different screenplay (inclusive of totally different characters, situations, plots, and settings) from the "Original" Terminator theme...you might (and that's a stretch)...might have some sort of pecuniary liability suit against the actual Terminator Franchise owners, if they used your original material as the source of the third Terminator installment.
It's not easy to live down this thought. But, only a fool would spend time to craft a creative commodity based on someone elses hard work and labor, and expect to be compensated for it, when they have never been a part of the enterprise to begin with. That's a tough lesson to learn.
If your content was as good as you claim...write something new and completely YOURS. Do your own thing. At the very least, befriend someone who's already in the business and work your mojo from there.
All the best...
It's unfortunate that your treatment of Terminator-3: Armegeddon may have been taken from you. However, you should remember that neither the concept nor the characters were ever yours in the first place. And, therefore, you have no claim of ownership.
Had you submitted a completely different screenplay (inclusive of totally different characters, situations, plots, and settings) from the "Original" Terminator theme...you might (and that's a stretch)...might have some sort of pecuniary liability suit against the actual Terminator Franchise owners, if they used your original material as the source of the third Terminator installment.
It's not easy to live down this thought. But, only a fool would spend time to craft a creative commodity based on someone elses hard work and labor, and expect to be compensated for it, when they have never been a part of the enterprise to begin with. That's a tough lesson to learn.
If your content was as good as you claim...write something new and completely YOURS. Do your own thing. At the very least, befriend someone who's already in the business and work your mojo from there.
All the best...
You essentially stold the characters, the plot, the setting etc. from the original owners and then tried to sell it back to them.
That is like stealing a person's car, fixing it up, and then trying to sell it back. No matter how hard you complain that the car is better off or that many of the parts on it are yours, the owner owes you nothing and the courts will agree. It's still their car.
This is a good lessen to all would be writers out there. If a work is copyrighted then you have to have the written approval of the owner of the work to do anything with the idea or else you're wasting your time.
How do you get the owner to sign his or her hard work over to a no-name author? You can't. If you find someone willing to do that, I also have stock in a bridge that I can sell them. A lawsuit like this is reason enough not to work with unknowns.
Write your own ORIGINAL screenplay, (better yet, several original screenplays) register them and start knocking on agents doors. It sucks but since everyone sues, even when they don't have a leg to stand on, those doors have to remain locked.
When you reach the A list of writers, then you can get permission to write the sequels to one of the most profitable movie franchises of all time.
That is like stealing a person's car, fixing it up, and then trying to sell it back. No matter how hard you complain that the car is better off or that many of the parts on it are yours, the owner owes you nothing and the courts will agree. It's still their car.
This is a good lessen to all would be writers out there. If a work is copyrighted then you have to have the written approval of the owner of the work to do anything with the idea or else you're wasting your time.
How do you get the owner to sign his or her hard work over to a no-name author? You can't. If you find someone willing to do that, I also have stock in a bridge that I can sell them. A lawsuit like this is reason enough not to work with unknowns.
Write your own ORIGINAL screenplay, (better yet, several original screenplays) register them and start knocking on agents doors. It sucks but since everyone sues, even when they don't have a leg to stand on, those doors have to remain locked.
When you reach the A list of writers, then you can get permission to write the sequels to one of the most profitable movie franchises of all time.
I'm here to set the record stait once and for all.I was James Cameron best friend when we were young in Chippawa Ontario.We were blood brothers and did many things together.if you read dreaming out loud all the things he did in that book he did with me.I'm going to tell you all about a child protigee and it makes no diference to me if you beieive me or not ,Jim and mike and i know its true.I watched the first episode of the outer limits together and that was 6 months after he cam p with the terminator idea.I went over to his house on Parkway Dr. on day in the spring of 1963,Jim was 8 years old.He had some mercury in a sauser he had gotten from broken thermometer and was poking it with a pen.He said to me when he can figure out hw to do that on film he would mak a movie of it.As kids do our imagination ran away with us and we nade up the guy who could change shape.the idea of the liquid metel guy came from Jims mind,he way back then said the guy could turn into swords and things,my input was he could go under bank vault doors and steel the cash[I always wanted to be rich.So there is the true begining of the terminator story and I don't give a rats but who beleives me cause its true is't that right Jim.
Your word does NOT justlfy anything in a courtroom...thats not proof. As far as I'm concerned, its a bunch of BS...Sorry it took me 5 years to write you back...I just googled myself, and this popped up...lol!!!
When in doubt, play the race card.
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