MM>> Legally, there is no difference whether you profit from your venture or
 MM>> not.  It is illegal to write fiction using Paramounts characters.  As a
 MM>> practical matter, however, if you are not making a profit, Paramount
 MM>> may not consider it worth while to prosecute you.
 JPH>  Oog.
Don't worry.  They usually send warning letters first.  :-)
 MM>> On the other hand, Paramount has a big contract with The Microsoft
 MM>> Network for WWW sites dealing with Star Trek.  If people can get 
imilar
 MM>> sound and graphics from free, non-MSN sites, Paramount loses money.
 MM>> This is why they have been assaulting fan-created WWW sites.
 JPH>   I wouldn't want to cost Paramount money.  I couldn't handle the
 JPH>   resulting backlash.  And unlike many, I remember the dark days when
 JPH>   there was *no* Star Trek.  It was as dead as Blake's 7.
Is Blake's 7 dead?  A local public TV station just started airing it
this summer, and I don't know much about it.
 MM>> As long as you do not use copyrighted sound and images, pretty much
 MM>> anything that is non-fiction is allowed.  All Star Trek fiction is
 MM>> illegal, unless specifically permitted by Paramount.
 JPH>   Oog.
It is basic copyright law -- nothing new here.
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