Reply #22: Did anyone ask George Lucas permission to use "Star Wars" [View All]

. . . as the label for the missile defense system?

When Lucas made "The Empire Strike Back," did anyone complain he might be seen as making reference to Jefferson Airplane's "Blows Against the Empire"?

When Jefferson Airplane recorded "White Rabbit," did the ghost of Lewis Carroll rise from his grave to ask why they were mucking with his intellectual property?

When Lewis Carroll wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," did anybody at all point out that not only was the title reminiscent of "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," but the baron had also fallen through the center of the Earth?

It's only in our present benighted era that people think using two or three words in a certain order gives you a property right to them forever. Since Moore's movie neither profits from Bradbury's work in any way nor results in any loss of profit or reputation to Bradbury himself, this is a non-issue.

And as for the question of "courtesy," asking someone for permission to do something that you have a right to do in any case raises more questions than it answers. If they refuse because they don't like your politics, do you accept their censorship? If they agree in advance and then don't like the finished product, do they have a right to withdraw their approval? Unless there is a personal relationship involved, I see no purpose in it.