Concerning using Lopine in your katstuff

From: DJ CLAWSON <XXRJ13C_at_prodigy.com>
Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 16:20:41 EST

   Since the submission of "Children of the Stone" to the rat site,
I've
recieved a number of letters from SWAT Kat fanfic authors, wondering
if they could use the language and culture Lopine in their fanfic
stories.

My plain, bottom-line answer is NO, but there's a lot behind that.

  As most of you know, (or have figured out along the way) Lopine is

taken from the religion Lapine used in Richard Adam's "Watership
Down"
novel. If you haven't read it, I suggest you do. Nothing about SKs,
but it
happens to be a very good book by itself.
  I created Lopine and the Lopineneans back in 1990. Lopine is a
culture,
according to foklore, that sprouted from Lapine and has spread
throughout
many species and dimensions. Father Time (a.k.a. Frith, Frith-rah) is
the
ruler of the cartoon universe.
   Lopine is not a religion; it is a culture, or a way of life. Not
all Lopineneans
belief Frith (the sun) is directly father time. Not all worship him
as the Lapine
rabbits in "Watership Down" did. In fact, a lot of Lopineneans have
their own
religion.
   I wrote a series of seaQuest DSV stories called "The Chomzon
Chronicles"
concerning the character Lucas Wolenczak and a species of bird-like
creatures
called chomzons who are, not surprisingly, Lopinenean. Because I have
all
intents to possibly publish this story, whether in fanzine or novel
form, the
term "Lopine" is technically a trademark.
   Lopine is MY invention. It may sound neat, and you may want to use
it, but
there's too much into it and too much stories not concerning the kats
that I've
used it in to just say, "Go ahead and do whatever you want with it."
I worry a lot
about the portrayal of Lopine. This, too me, is the equivelant of the
Tremblay
brothers reading one script of SWAT Kats to Davis Doi, then handing
him the
rights and saying, "Go ahead and do whatever you want with it." Any
creator
wants their creations to be potrayed correctly.
   I don't fault anyone for asking. I appreciate your interest. But
sorry.

   As for the people (well, one person) who has approached me and
said, "Can I
use 'Watership Down' (WD) characters in my story?"
   I can't stop you from that. I'm not Richard Adams. But if you got
the idea to do it
from my using Lapine into Lopine first, think it through first.

Thank you for your time.

                                                Dr. Jake



Received on Mon Apr 01 1996 - 16:53:14 PST

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