8 May 1985, A.S. XX

Unto the members of the College of Arms,

from Baldwin of Erebor, Laurel King of Arms.

My lords and ladies,

Enclosed herewith is the letter of acceptances and returns from the Laurel meeting of April 14. Submissions were processed at this meeting for Laurel (1/28), Meridies (12/18), Atlantia (12/31), Calontir (1/7), West (1/10), East (1/14), Caid (1/19), Atenveldt (1/22), and East (3/13). There were 127 items approved, 42 returned, and 1 pending, for a 75% approval rate.

Schedule

The letters to be processed at the May 12 meeting are Middle (1/25), Ansteorra (1/28), Atenveldt (2/12), West (2/13), and East (2/24). Dragon's letter of April 20 will also be reviewed at the May meeting.

The June meeting is scheduled for the 9th. The letters to be processed at this meeting are Laurel (3/31), Middle (2/24), Ansteorra (3/3), Calontir (3/3), Caid (3/8), West (3/10), Atenveldt (3/13), and Middle (3/17). Letters of comment for this meeting should reach me no later than June 1st.

It appears that the practice of scheduling letters on the basis of the projected meeting date, which I undertook tentatively in January, causes more problems than it solves. I am therefore returning to scheduling letters by month of issue (with the proviso that letters arriving after the start of the following month may be carried over to the next meeting) effective as of the July 14th meeting. The letters scheduled for this meeting are An Tir (3/26), East (4/1), East (4/5), Caid (4/11), West (4/19), Atenveldt (4/20), Middle (4/20), and Ansteorra (4/25). Letters of comment for this meeting should arrive no later than July 6.

Mailing list

Mistress Keridwen of Montrose has resumed the office of Aten Herald: M. A. Foster, P.O. Box 864, Los Alamos, NM 87544. Mistress Graidne ni Mhaire Ruadh has retired as Dragon Herald. Her successor is Baron Charles Stewart O'Connor, formerly Pale Herald (which office Mistress Graidne is assuming). Lord Janos a Sovåny Barcsi, formerly Obelisk Pursuivant, is now Asterisk Herald of Ansteorra.* All four should receive copies of letters of intent and comment.

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* Yes, Virginia, their titles really are Asterisk and Obelisk (by Toutatis!).

The new Polaris Herald is Lady Alice of Kent (Barbara Kearns), 17930 Maple Tree Lane, Brookfield, WI 53005. The new Trillium Herald is Lady Fiona Averylle of Maidenhead (Avril Brass), 7 George Street, St. Catharines, Ontario, CANADA L2R 5Nl. Neither is currently a corresponding member of the College.

Baron Steffan ap Cenydd of Silverwing (Elmet Herald) is taking a leave of absence from commenting. He hopes to resume once his mundane workload returns to manageable proportions. Please remove Master Vuong Manh, Lord Thomas Wakefield, and Lady AElfhaelen Dracasidth from the mailing list.

An updated copy of the College of Arms roster is enclosed.

Rules for Submissions

Starting with a couple of the submissions in this letter, I am implementing the point­and­a­half rule outlined in my March 2 cover letter on a tentative basis. If two coats consist of different single charges plus a charged chief or bordure, difference in type of principal charge may count up to a point and a half. An additional minor point of difference in the charges on the chief or bordure would then make the two coats sufficiently different.

Copyright Infringement

A couple of recent comments have referred to submissions as infringing on "copyrighted" character names and titles of books. According to Donald F. Johnston, "Short phrases [and) titles ... have not been recognized as covered by copyright law." (Copyright Handbook, page 26. R. R. Bowker Company, second edition 1982.) This applies to names of characters in works of fiction, titles of books and movies, names of games, and so forth. Names of characters may be trademarked (and often are ­ Marvel Comics and LucasFilm are both said to be trademark­happy), but the legalities are tied to use in the same categories of trade. I believe an SCA usage would constitute trademark infringement only under select circumstances.

This does not mean that such names are necessarily usable in the SCA ­­ we have our own standards of infringement, which in some ways are stricter than mundane trademark and copyright law. It does mean, however, that the fact that something is trademarked is unlikely to be relevant (and that something you may have thought was covered by copyright actually isn't).

Notes and Queries

Does anyone happen to know what the correct plural of pegasus is? Is there such a beast? (The plural, I mean, not the pegasus?)

Please believe me to be,

Your servant,


Baldwin of Erebor

Laurel King of Arms

enclosures