Licensing Fees May Prevent Scotty Memorial

A plan to build a memorial to Star Trek's Montgomery Scott in Aberdeen, Scotland may fail due to concerns about copyright and cost.

The Press and Journal reported that Aberdeen councillors had been warned that "Copyright and design issues may prove too restrictive in commemorating the character" of Scotty, according to the council's head of economic development, Rita Stephen. The council had hoped to build a statue representing Scotty, who called himself an "old Aberdeen pub crawler" in the original series episode "Wolf in the Fold."

Aberdeen Lord Provost John Reynolds kicked off the campaign to have a permanent memorial to Scotty shortly after the death of actor James Doohan, who played the popular character. Though Doohan was born in Canada, Scotty was at different times said to be from Elgin, Linlithgow and Aberdeen on the series. Stephen noted that the town of Riverside, Iowa experienced economic growth from claiming Captain James T. Kirk as a future native son.

Aberdeen originally planned to erect a 40 foot bronze statue of Scotty, but it would cost thousands of dollars to obtain a license for the image, which is now owned by CBS Corp. after the split from Viacom Inc. "Further research is required in identifying more cost-effective schemes to maximise the opportunity to promote Aberdeen as the future birthplace of Scotty," Stephen said.

Reynolds told The Evening Express that he still believes a statue would bring in tourism and has suggested asking bars and clubs in the city to create "space-related drinks" to draw attention to the plan.

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