Necronomicon (Evil Dead II) What's out there?

[TomBSullivan]

Just to clear up a point by Toyman, never filed any police report on Mr. Rockey. I just forwarded his email where he stated that by me ending his illegal sales, I was taking food out of his children's mouths. I forwarded the email to the police, letting them know I was in a legal disupute with Rockey and they took it from there. I never used any term like dead beat dad or anything else to the cops. Mr. Rockey dug his own grave with that email.
He got caught stealing and is upset.
So his claim to fame and something his children have the legacy of is that their dad plagerizes other's work and sells it.
Sounds like a creep to me.
Tom Sullivan

 

[toyman365]

that about says it all. We don't need to give him any more time. His 15 minutes of fame died years ago when people forgot about ED

Funny you haters don't have a clue about his body of work...:lol

 

[toyman365]

It's just getting good now...We are trying to stretch Tom's 15 minutes to 20 minutes..lol

Yep, you guys are just haters...:lol

 

[toyman365]

That is a common phrase...a VERY common phrase, and is almost never meant literally. And even if it was to be taken literally, the person taking food out of someone's mouth would be responsible, so Tom should have been visited by the authorities for petty theft [of food] and willful or reckless endangerment.

If someone places food into they're children's mouths and someone else takes it out, the person who put the food there in the first place is not responsible. It's like a burglar calling the cops on me for putting up a 46" flat screen TV on my wall. I should not be held liable for its theft, the burglar should. Since you apparently have never even heard the phrase "taking food out of my children's mouths" before, perhaps I should explain that the "burglar" in this extended metaphor is Tom.

In summation, this is ridiculous! Like I said, everyone is willing to give you and "your boy" the copyright point, just don't mess with people's kids and family, it's something that will ALWAYS come back to bite you.

Now, back to a less frivolous point, you said that you helped Tom file the copyright papers, would you happen to have the registration numbers that would have been issued by the Library of Congress/US Copyright Office? If you do, that would put all of this to rest in a heartbeat.

-Nick

He broke the law, but it's Tom's fault, He lied and it's Tom's fault, yes we do have the certificates of copyright and Sam Raimi told this to Anchor Bay, that's why we ended up doing the ED and ED II books, two seperate copyrights and the ED: Musical book another copyright. I see no point of posting anything to prove this to you as it is a public record and if you really cared you can send FOIA request to the Library of Congress.

His lawyer would not get involved if Tom didn't hold the copyrights as his lawyer is a Copyright Lawyer...:love

 

[toyman365]

Smack.


Down.

Just a minute, my wipers are on... dumb guy, dumb guy, dumb guy...:love

 

[propologist]

Funny you haters don't have a clue about his body of work...:lol

One of my majors in college was art history and I have a passion for art of all kinds. I know his work to the extent that the internet has to offer. I not hating on his work , but his " holier than thou" attitude. I have worked and sold work for artist who have worked under the likes of Picasso and others and their attitudes where no way as abusive as his has been to the people on this site.
Many artists get a big head because they taste a bit of fame , When in reality they are only as good as their last work. James O'barr , John Byrne , and many other artists have had the same attitude and seen they're stock go down with fans. remember you do it for the fans.
All I am saying is this " sue you and sue you " attitude is something that many people don't care for. This is a prop site for fans of movies. People will make their own originals for their own use. I have images of all his pages and I enjoy the work. i intend on making my own one day . but for personal enjoyment.
He should enjoy that people " honor" his work by reproducing and stop acting like a childish school girl about a rather old movie . I say bravo for going after the people that are stealing your work and making a profit from it, but don't use blanket accusations about a site .
That's my position on it and that's all I'm going to say about this very pity issue that should have been resolved in person rather than in a faceless chat board.

 

[Adam Fails]

Wow. The Necronomicon really does have a tainted aura surrounding it! And here I was thinking the book's evil verisimilitude was only real in movies and literature. Don't think I'll be watching Evil Dead in quite the same way again.

 

[TheNickFox]

if you really cared you can send FOIA request to the Library of Congress.y

FOIA wouldn't apply here, hence why I was asking for you and Tom to be upfront and show, definitively, that his is the name on the forms. If he has the copyrights, which he does, it should be a matter of simply writing the numbers for all to see. I was offering you a way to help him out. Instead, since you both seem unwilling to help at all, I've taken the liberty of dredging through a hordes of copyright data (A real PITA!) to find the relevant registration numbers:

Book of the dead; Tom Sullivan’s book of the dead. (Art Originals): VAu000507788

Book of the dead, evil dead 2. (New matter claim, art originals): VAu000507787

Lost pages of the book of the dead. (Art Originals): VAu000507789

Evil dead :book of the dead (DVD Case): VA0001165179

Anchor Bay evil dead 2 : the book of the dead 2 DVD case.: VA0001346661

All of these were registered between 2000 and 2005.

Was that so hard? NO! Especially not when you could have easily given them to us instead of having me run around for them. This all comes back to everyone's main point: It's not that we have a problem with Tom defending his copyrights, he has every right to, but to do so in such an abrasive, abusive, holier-than-thou, and quite frankly childish way is ludicrous.

And by the way, you're welcome for digging up those copyright numbers for him.

-Nick

 

[Architect]

heh heh I know how tough getting what you need is from the LOC as I have had to write them to get help locating my own. since you have some luck any ideas on how one secures another copy of something from them if you can prove you are the copyright holder? I need a copy of both my how to book for making foam props and design book called the definitive guide to order and chaos

 

[dropshipbob]

Funny you haters don't have a clue about his body of work...:lol

And with the way you AND him act, we don't care to. You're not really helping Tom's case by acting like such a tool and you'll never convince anyone that Tom is in the "right".

So you should really just leave now.

There have been many members here who got into the "business" and obtained licenses from the movie companies to make their self-made stuff legit, and people here were fine with not treading on their toes, and at the same time those same artists didn't ***** and moan whenever someone tried making their own from scratch and then sell it to recoup their money.

 

[elchupachups]

Hi guys



I am desperatly looking for some good pictures or scan of the book of the dead ..i am dying to start my own replica
i want it to be 100 percent accurate so if anyone here can help me plz that will be very nice ...

By the way a few years ago someone sent me a font that is not bullskript but almost indentical to the font in the original book of the dead !
The guy who sent me the stuff said he found it on a dvd ..any idea folks if this font still around ??

plz let me know !!!

thanks

 

[epilepticsquirl]

this

YouTube - THE EVIL DEAD - NECRONOMICON EX-MORTIS BOOK OF THE DEAD

plus this

YouTube Downloader - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

plus your nifty windows movie maker that comes with windows

all multiplied by some hardcore hand drawing with a fountain pen (optional) should yield you a nifty necronomicon. It's how i'm doing mine anyway, for my personal, use. for my personal "don't sue me cuz that would be silly i'd really like to eat and just looking at my credit score is a very bad idea i wish someone would steal my identity" use. If that were me. lol

 

[Organic Mechanic]

This thread made me sad. I was really hoping to see a work in progress here. Ah well.

 

[epilepticsquirl]

Here ya go, some progress on my necronomicon. It's funny, I never really gave this much thought till I read the forums, saw the movies again, and read some more.
I got the book from Barnes and Noble, it's all blank pages so it was perfect for my uses. Then, using what I stated above, I started drawing the pages!
The font was really simple to draw out once I got a basic exemplar down pat.
I included a three stage look at one of the pages.

First stage is arranging everything to page
Second stage is defining everything more, basic outlines
Third and final stage is shading shading and some more shading. Virtually every part of the page is shaded. Only the whitest of white's is left untouched.

I'm not a professional artist by any stretch of the imagination; I just do this for fun. Sorry for the crappy phone pics and Enjoy!

 

[Organic Mechanic]

Here ya go, some progress on my necronomicon. It's funny, I never really gave this much thought till I read the forums, saw the movies again, and read some more.
I got the book from Barnes and Noble, it's all blank pages so it was perfect for my uses. Then, using what I stated above, I started drawing the pages!
The font was really simple to draw out once I got a basic exemplar down pat.
I included a three stage look at one of the pages.

First stage is arranging everything to page
Second stage is defining everything more, basic outlines
Third and final stage is shading shading and some more shading. Virtually every part of the page is shaded. Only the whitest of white's is left untouched.

I'm not a professional artist by any stretch of the imagination; I just do this for fun. Sorry for the crappy phone pics and Enjoy!

Hey, that's looking great! Thanks for sharing.

 

[PeteVenkman]

I cannot express just how deeply disappointing this thread is. I have a hard enough time stomaching the supremely childish mind set of most prop nerds, but this really takes the cake.

Considering the way people on this board act towards others who re-cast their replicas of other peoples intellectual properties not one of you arguing with Mr. Sullivan have a leg to stand on. If anything it reflects just how completely you've lost perspective. Your personal opinions of Tom or how he conducts himself are totally moot when it comes to respecting copyright laws. Whether you feel there is no monetary justification in the pursuit of protecting copyright infringement is also moot. Tom is not some random replica licensee, he is the original creator of the IP, the copyright holder of said IP and is still currently offering these creations personally to fans who desire replicas. That in and of itself should speak volumes. Do you see someone like Lorne Peterson offering to make X-wings and Tie Fighters for fans? I don't think so.

I've read through all of the arguments made against Tom and not one of them hold any water. You're personal feelings about him bare no relevance in a court of law. If you are making replicas with out a licence and profiting from them then you have to accept that you may eventually get slapped with a C&D or law suit, period. Defending your right to produce them, when you don't have a licence or the proper rights secured will only encourage further wrath or a day in court. It's really quite simple. Again, look at how re-casters are viewed on this board, no one likes their hard work taken by others.

The Evil Dead movies are among my favourites, as are the props, they are simply wonderful works of art. So I can't tell you how much it pains me to see the person responsible for these props being trashed simply because people just don't seem to like him or how he conducts himself. It's pretty sad if you ask me. In the end it makes you, not Tom, look bad and reflects very poorly on the hobby in general.

 

[elchupachups]

In the end it makes you, not Tom, look bad and reflects very poorly on the hobby in general.

First of sorry for my very bad english folks , i am from belgium .....and english is like my third language lol

Thanks a lot epilepticsquirl very nice video !!! and your work is excellent !! bravo

For my part i am a professional artist, and the purpose of creating a replica is to offer it to my 14 years old son who is a big fan of the evil dead series

In fact it's the second time à create a "necronomicon" the first one i was into creating my own version with own graphics ..more like the Da vinci anatomy studies ...and guess who gave me the idea ..? well mister sullivan ..who was nice enough to answer my emails and numerous question about his method creating the BOTD.

Back in the days i remember a guy that was selling copys of perfect replicas of the book for up to 600 dollars !

i mean come on guys...someone come copy your stuf and make money with that ...and you find it honest ..????

Anyways i totally agree with venkman...my english has reached is limit i can't go any further debatting lol

 

[jazzygeoffery]

Oh yes, I was going to post some pics.

To be honest I totally forgot because after reading this thread I dropped the project. One day I'll finish my "prototype" just for myself. Here's a sample of some pages from the book (from my files, didn't get to actually printing them yet). I've got a cover finished which I'll snap a shot of when I can find my camera.

these are great! i plan to use this in a semi-evil dead inspired replica, but im having touble with the size, could you scale these up so that each page fits on normal printer paper? thank you very much for the great refences.

 

[asavage]

Wow. This thread is hilarious.

High freaking larious.

There are craploads of pious blathering in thread after thread on this forum going back a DECADE about how "recasters" are scum, and how it's the scourge of the prop collecting world. About every year or so a newbie unintentionally asks for a flame war by asking for clear instructions about what, exactly, constitutes recasting.

It's the very definition of a big gray zone.

I'm not saying that there aren't black and white areas to this very gray zone, but this thread begins almost immediately with a discussion about a COPYRIGHT HOLDER being upset about his work being copied, said copyright holder pipes up and says yes, he's upset about his work being copied, and almost everyone dogpiles on the copyright holder and calls him a d****ebag.

And THEN continues to discuss copying his work.

Really?

Honestly, I didn't know that there was a d****ebag loophole to the recasting thing.

Kids: this is one of the very few cases where it's not a gray area. It's black and white. (btw I'm not speaking from a legal standpoing, IANAL, but simply from a "stated morality of the RPF")

Tom wants to protect his copyright, as he has EVERY RIGHT to do. The fact that you may not like him (or he may not like you posting about not liking him) is totally immaterial.

--------------------

For the record, I find most of the righteous polemics here about recasting pretty hypocritical, given what I know of nearly everyone's collection who's spent any significant time in replica prop collecting. Most of the time it's not about morality, it's about money.

postscript:
Please do NOT let this now descend into a discussion about what recasting is. I'm merely pointing out hypocrisy when I sees it. Adam out.

 

[TheNickFox]

Oh, no! This got drug up again?!

Just let it go. I think we should all just consider this as off limits as replicating an Oscar statuette. In short: if you HAVE to make one, don't tell anyone about it; and if you tell anyone about it, don't sell any and expect a phone call or two telling you to stop.

As I've said before, I may disagree with HOW Tom has gone about defending his copyrights, but he does hold the copyrights to this prop (Many times over as my last post showed) so let's try to respect that.

Everyone gets all up in arms when a well-respected member here is recast or ripped off, but if we seek to be ethical in our endeavors here, then we must extend that respect to ALL people who create original works, and that includes Tom. Personal feelings shouldn't even enter into it.

Disagree with the man all you want, but don't ever think that gives you enough moral high ground to begin to infringe on his rights.

Can this thread die in peace now?

-Nick