Board Thread:Inclusion debates/@comment-5253713-20150518174430/@comment-188432-20150603184726

Master of Spiders wrote: But the point remains the same. The original Virgin Novels(1997-199) as well as the early Big Finish Bernice Summerfield audios/books did not have the rights to use characters and concepts like Time Lords, TARDISes etc., yet did so anyway, unable to refer to them by what they are. Just wanted to highlight this. I think it's showing you're not really understanding the nature of Rule 2 because you've got a flawed concept of copyright. A copyright is a specific legal instrument. It generally requires unambiguous, named reference to the concept which is copyrighted. Suggestion is not enough. You have to call the TARDIS "the TARDIS" to violate copyright. You can suggest and hint at the TARDIS all you want without having to pay the Beeb a dime.

Put simply, it's not enough to call it a cola; you have to call it a Coca-Cola before the lawyers roll out of bed. The Plague Herd of Excelis may very well be the fourth part of the Excelis saga, but so what? In parts 1-3 the time machine can be referred to as a "TARDIS". In part 4 it can not. The Doctor can identify himself as being a Time Lord from Gallifrey in parts 1-3. In part 4 Braxatiel can not be referred to as such. And Iris can't identify where she comes from, what she is or what her bus is either! ...though she does refer to a "dimensional stabiliser", which is definitely a concept from the DWU. At this point, Big Finish aren't hinting at the DWU for legal reasons. They have access to the DWU. They're doing it for comic effect.

But put that to one side. It clearly matters that it's part four, because at this point there have been a number of concepts introduced in the first three parts. Excelis and Artaris continue on from the initial chapters of the story, as do the Relic, and the nunnery Iris is in during Dawns that she refers to in Herds. You're so busy looking for the words "Time Lord" and "TARDIS" that you're missing the hundreds of other concepts that are shared between the four stories.