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Rights to Torchwood


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Old 24-12-2016, 02:30
Jedi_Knight
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Who owns the rights to Torchwood?


Russell T Davies or the BBC?
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Old 24-12-2016, 04:41
DS9
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The BBC owns the rights because it asked RTD to create it while he was on salary.

If RTD had written the first episode as a freelancer he'd own all the rights.
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Old 25-12-2016, 21:02
Alrightmate
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The BBC owns the rights because it asked RTD to create it while he was on salary.

If RTD had written the first episode as a freelancer he'd own all the rights.
I thought he wrote it years before DW was commissioned and made it to screen.
If it wasn't actually called Torchwood when it was conceived it was the same thing in practice.
I'm pretty sure that RTD said himself that he created it in the years when DW was not on screen.
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Old 25-12-2016, 23:50
nattoyaki
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I thought he wrote it years before DW was commissioned and made it to screen.
If it wasn't actually called Torchwood when it was conceived it was the same thing in practice.
I'm pretty sure that RTD said himself that he created it in the years when DW was not on screen.
Whenever he wrote it, submission, commission and production all occurred as part of his work on Doctor Who, no?
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Old 26-12-2016, 05:11
Alrightmate
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Whenever he wrote it, submission, commission and production all occurred as part of his work on Doctor Who, no?
I don't know. I presume that he had stories in mind with some makeshift characters, and when DW finally made it to screen he adapted these pre-existing stories to fit to the current DW storylines and characters at the time and it thus became the property of the BBC.
Like I said, I don't know. I just guess that it may have worked out along those lines.
He said something I remember about him asking why couldn't there be a British Buffy (Or was it Angel?) and had something like that in mind but with a sci-fi team.
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Old 26-12-2016, 21:12
rionia
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JB said RTD had to sign off on his TW novel Exodus Code. And I remember Big Finish also said (at a Q& A) that RTD has to approve their stories as well.

So RTD must maintain some copyright (maybe to some concepts and characters)
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Old 26-12-2016, 21:42
Steve9214
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The OOD are credited as "Created by Russell T Davies" if they are used in episodes, so he probably has some sign off on the use of the characters, but TW was a BBC production so must ultimately belong to them.
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Old 26-12-2016, 22:53
rionia
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The OOD are credited as "Created by Russell T Davies" if they are used in episodes, so he probably has some sign off on the use of the characters, but TW was a BBC production so must ultimately belong to them.
Looking at the credits in JB's novel Exodus Code is gives this:

Portraits: c) BBC

Cover images: c) BBC 2012

Series created by Russell T Davies

Original series broadcast on BBC Television. Format: c) BBC 2005 Torchwood and Torchwood Logo are trademarks of the BBC and are used under licence.
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Old 28-12-2016, 12:49
CLL Dodge
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So it looks like the Beeb own the rights but RTD gets a credit.
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