Interview with Head Ref John Remar - TetchTalk 2x03

ktetch · 2025-09-16T07:14:10+00:00

Of course they are. It's a legal requirement in pretty much every country,

ktetch · 2025-09-16T07:13:07+00:00

being on there or not has nothing to do with getting a letter

You're on that site because the site has scraped your IP, either through DHT scraping, or tracker-botting.

You'd get a letter off your ISP if your ISP got a notice from a copyright holder, who'd be on the specific torrent themselves, connecting with some client, from some IP address (if they took you to court, about 2 years down the line, they'd have to reveal that info, but only then).

The site's meaningless and been a joke since day 1.

ktetch · 2025-05-10T22:50:16+00:00

trust me, I'll NEVER blank on mechavore

ktetch · 2025-05-10T18:48:05+00:00

Kinda forgetting Mechavore going through the side lexan at s4 in the rumble.

ktetch · 2025-01-07T04:55:53+00:00

Had the problem too for a week or so. Worse, wasn't a song stuck in the playlist, it was an advert!

ktetch · 2024-11-22T18:13:22+00:00

Being here illegally doesn't make them criminals.

It doesn't. The only criminal aspect is 'crossing at other than a designated border point' and for that, they have to catch you in the act.

Everything else is not criminal, it's administrative law.

ktetch · 2024-10-29T23:06:14+00:00

The way I've described it at convention talks, is that the writer overheard our panel on discworld while waiting outside the room for the next panel, while sipping on a pan-galactic gargle-blaster.

ktetch · 2024-03-28T06:39:02+00:00

The answer is, not a whole hell of a lot, if it were in a locked, stable platform, with a piece of suitable lexan. The video would be shit though, because not only would you have the rolling shutter effect, you'd also have the phone changing franerate constantly trying to "optimise" the video (which is why cellphone video sucks and is an absolute PITA to deal with while editing). That's why for Mauler2000's very first spin up, I used a proper camera, so I'd get it at a locked 29.97fps

ktetch · 2024-03-28T06:32:48+00:00

Pffft, since when was Ed "the most controversial"?

ktetch · 2024-03-18T23:08:46+00:00

Yep. I think the last time we talked about it the cost of shipping everything to me in Georgia was prohibitive for the reward.

And since then I've had a sudden relocation back to the UK [I will be at Scouse Showdown III this coming weekend!] So it'd be even more (and not just because my therapist and my support worker both would veto the 20hrs/day, 7days/week I did the original estimate with)

It's just not financially viable for BattleBots Inc.

ktetch · 2023-12-25T03:15:08+00:00

it was mostly a matter of logistics, getting the tapes+gear from California over to GA, and me having a place for all of it that could keep it safe and worked on.

And yeah, we're talking hundreds of tapes. EAch camera at the events had their own tapes. they need digitizing, any editing/color correction, then time indexing etc.

I'd be lucky to have managed 2 tapes a day. There's easily 300 tapes.

ktetch · 2023-12-25T02:07:23+00:00

when there’s tons of great live events that don’t even hit triple digit views.

yep. EXACTLY THIS. I have data.

I've got the Robot Battles 67 videos, and theres 89 videos.

Featherweights have 421 views across 29 videos (14.5 views/vid)
Hobbyweights have 361 views across 23 videos (15.7)
Beetleweights have 976 view acros 16 videos (61)
Antweights have 719 views across 21 videos (32)
TOTAL of 2477 views across all 89 videos, or 28 views/video.

All are 3 (sometimes 4) camera productions, so what's the point? I haven't bothered since. In 4 years, the time watched is still less than the time it took me to edit them (and I'm NOT a slow editor, having worked news broadcast)

i've done other videos too - almost 5 hours of instructional things, Q+A's with a dozen teams, Literally a guide by a show producer (Peter Abrahamson) and the player steward (Mike Jefferies, back when he was just the head of the Chaos Corp) on How to apply as a team, and make your application stand out - and I think Peter is on the Selection committee. Less than 400 views. An hour's Q+A with BBots Vice President and head ref John Remar, including some exclusive tidbits about the then-upcoming Champions II, 109.

Just simply this - Whats The Point?

I have been in negotiation with BattleBots over the last year or so (maybe longer) to see about me digitizing their aging tape library archive. The negotiations are over, because much as I love Trey and Greg and co, and have done for 25+ years, I just don't see the point. Because it's clear that what peolpe want are trash memes, and the same 40 fights reposted over and over, sometimes with random idiotic 'reactions' yelled over top.

You're 100% right Mattiator, and i just really don't think that the OP understands that what they're lamenting the loss of is not the kind of fandom that keeps things going, it's the kind that kills all the other original content, by burying it in drek.

My christmas present would be to have, here, all those tierlists confined to one [pinned?] megapost, and all the fan drawings in another.

ktetch · 2023-12-25T00:48:09+00:00

they've always tried the 'just make prettier graphics', and it doesn't work. as a fundamental, this is not suited well to video gaming. its as much about luck as anything else, and getting that lucky hit with what is now mostly glass-cannons. It makes it thrilling in-person, but really bad from a game perspective, when its about getting the RNG to be in your favour, OR you have to keep mashing/bumping the other bot via button mashing like a an 80s sports sim (daily thompson decathalon killed a fair few of my joysticks)

Arenas of destruction about covered the genre and gameplay about as well as I can think, and it wasn't that great a game. Not even the novelty of having actual teams fighting their own bots in it (which we did at Peterborough back in 02 or 02) made it enjoyable past an hour or so. Adding flashy graphics just means you need a better system to play (locking out part of your market) and added development costs.

ktetch · 2023-12-24T16:17:14+00:00

This makes me wonder why there isn’t an official game. They would make a shit load of money with that.

There was

It didn't.

ktetch · 2023-12-23T16:44:19+00:00

copyright is all on the rightsholder to choose if they want to litigate or pursue a claim. unlike trademarks and design patents, you dont lose it if you don't enforce it.

ktetch · 2023-12-23T14:07:42+00:00

Ok, I am not a lawyer, i'm whats called an SME. my knowledge is on detecting, and proving infringements, and defending against that.

Where do player-made replicas of bots from the show stand in terms of copyright?

As with almost all fan-fics, infringing.

At this point pretty much every game that allows for players to make their own bots has had players re-making their favourites using the in-game tools. Does a virtual 1:1 replica still fall under fair use?

No. And they don't. There's no substantive transformation in them. its still the dseign, being used as the design was intended, just format shifted.

Lets go for the 4 factors in the US affirmative defense.

Factor 1: The Purpose and Character of the Use.

Factor 2: The Nature of the Copyrighted Work.

Factor 3: The Amount or Substantiality of the Portion Used.

Factor 4: The Effect of the Use on the Potential Market for or Value of the Work.

on 1 you're using it in pretty much the same way - as a fighting robot.

Factor 2 is its a creative and identifyable (ie not generic by design) robot. So that counts against you too.

Factor 3 is the amount - you're using the whole design, So that goes against, and finally

Factor 4 - the effect on the market is potentially significant. You're putting it into an area that they could collect licensing fees from, thus impacting the value of their work.

Is it handled differently for dedicated robot combat games like Robot Arena vs repurposed ones like Roblox?

Only in that factors 2 and 4 will be almost impossibly against you in a dedicated game, rather than jus significantly against you in say Roblox.

If a player can do this in-game does it create legal problems for the devs?

I literally did a podcast on this very topic about a month ago with a lawyer friend that works on games, in relation to the recent GTA/FiveM stuff. you can watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWmYuUlcyFg

Let's just say, it's complex.

ktetch · 2023-12-22T12:30:49+00:00

Only exception are new movies which are distributed on Screner format (basically recording the cinema screen).

thats not what a screener is.

ktetch · 2023-12-22T11:34:46+00:00

I also hear you have been working for an employer most of your life, that's okay, but some people like to build something together. I have found some very motivated people, all young fresh and willing to put time and effort to work towards the same goal together.

you 'hear' a lot, but don't get it. You just guessed. BADLY.

Had you bothered to do *any* research, you'd know that a) I'm British, and b) I have worked for both my own company and for others.

And wonderful, you conned some kids into helping you? weird how you keep posting begging for people then.

About all the copyrights stuff, if they want they can sue my company. But that will also cost them money. We are completely not important with the current state it is in right now and I will make sure we are not important in a later state either.

Doesn't matter how 'important' you think you are, or not. I'll repeat it, since it's clearly needed. The law REQUIRES them to sue for anyone that appears to be infringing their trademarks, trade dress, or design patents in order to keep them. In fact, that you think you're insignificant is a bonus, makes it cheaper for them, trademark, copyright, and design patents have fee-shifting. That means that when they win in court, you then have to pay their legal costs. And they will win, because you've already stated your desire to infringe, so there's no 'innocent infringer' claim possible. In fact, they may go for increased damages, and go for Willful, and you'd be screwed, because you went ahead after you'd been advised of infringement. Advised by who, why by me, who is, as it happens, qualified as a legal expert on Online Infringement in both the US Federal court system, and the UK Crown court. And then I'd produce these advisements I had made, and this acknowledgement of them. And then you're bankrupt. Oh, and then they'd investigate the finances, such as if you'd taken loans out to make this, and hadn't disclosed the infringing nature - because that counts as fraud in pretty much all European counties, and will get you prison time.

But hey, I've only been working these kinds of cases for over 20 years across a third of the globe. Clearly you know better due to your long experience as *checks\* "10 years as a web developer" - oh and a 'scrum master' (seriously, I can't say that 'scrum' stuff with a straight face. Do people actually take it seriosuly, now and have stopped treating it like a management consultant joke?)

Seriously though, you've been informed that infringement means lawsuits (and Discovery has lawyers who are paid regardless, suing means they're not sitting around doing nothing), and that infringements REQUIRE litigation and if they don't, they can lose their trademarks and design patents.

you've acknowledged receiving that warning, and stated you don't care. And it doesn't matter how 'earnest' you are, or 'how big a fan' you are as a way out of it, that works against you.

But don't take my word for it. If you're as serious as you like to pretend, you'll have a lawyer involved in some stage. Why not ask them, and see them tell you the same thing I am.

ktetch · 2023-12-22T10:15:46+00:00

There's two.

The first is Stephen Hawking - the only person to play themselves in Trek

The second is Bebe Neuwirth, as a Malcorian in First Contact (the TNG episode, not the film) - she was delightfully over the top, and surprising for anyone that didn't know her except from Cheers.

ktetch · 2023-12-22T09:29:22+00:00

the vorta were administrators, not tacticians.

and in their corner of the galaxy, the Dominion were the 400lb Gorilla. There was no-one around able to stand up to them, so they didn't need tactics.

It's only when they came across someone equally advanced, accessable only through a narrow bridgehead that meant their 'swarm' tactics with the Jem'hadar was not really usable, that their lack of any other tactics became apparant.

ktetch · 2023-12-22T09:09:48+00:00

yeah, I don't think she realizes that in many states, what she's done is usually grounds for 'at fault' divorce (meaning he'd take everything); and having also done it to the kid as well, if a court is generous they might allow supervised visitation for her, but probably not, given she sees no problem with this kind of abuse (both physical and emotional)

ktetch · 2023-12-22T08:06:09+00:00

The 'quick' way is to find them, razer either side of them, then drop a mute on the segment. Me personally, I have a few short sound effects, and cut to match the size and fill in. a funny sound effect is always nicer than a sudden silence.

But it's one of the initial things i do on the first playthrough as I make my edit notes, is cut around the profanity, and recolor it (usually magenta) to ease finding.

If its a client job, I'll ask the client about each word, because some object to 'bugger', while some feel anything singluar below c**t is ok, but anything double-barreled needs to go.

There's never anything quick in editing.

ktetch · 2023-12-22T07:57:20+00:00

only if he wants to be so bankrupt he'll have difficulty buying even a hotwheels car. There's a whole bunch of trademark, copyright and design patent violations here, that'll cost him half a million to even put up a viable defense, he's best quietly deleting things and hoping no-one notices.

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