Forum:Royalties for species

I've read that Trek didn't use Nick Locarno and the Kzinti (though maybe in ENT season five) b/c of paying royalties to the writers of those episodes. What about the writers of ? They invented the Cardassians, and, of course, probably every DS9 episode used or referenced them.

Did Paramount have to pay royalties for each episode? Did they make a settlement with the writers (ie, a one-time payout for the rights to use/"own" the Cardassians?) Similar questions arise (at least for me) WRT other reused characters and races.

Why were Locarno and the Kzinti any different? (Setting aside the notion that the VOY creators simply may have not wanted to use Locarno – the royalty thing is still mentioned as though it were a possible reason for the change.) 16:28, March 4, 2011 (UTC)


 * Do you have a source on the reasons for (not) using of the Kzinti? This might just be fan speculation.


 * I can confirm that writers have to be paid for the re-use of characters, per Writer's Guild regulations. For example, Robert Hewitt Wolfe received royalties for every use of Bareil Antos, according to Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 90. But I'm not sure that it extends to other concepts, like species.–Cleanse ( talk 01:03, March 5, 2011 (UTC)