Chronos contacted me again. First, he got Moto42's contact information (after I made sure Moto42 was okay with us giving him his contact info), and to try and get us to let him make an SCP movie. I believe that Moto42 did give him permission (while making it clear that he only controlled the material specific to the SCP-173 article). Afterwards, he sent the following:
You really love this website and what it stands for, I get it. I'm no more qualified than the next guy to do this film. I'm not.
You don't want this film to be created because of multiple different reasons, mainly that you are afraid of losing the license to your characters I assume.
If you were wondering, I was only planning on gaining the rights for your characters until our planned time for releasing the film on DVD. Even then, you would still have the rights for your characters throughout the creation of our film, from start to finish. That's the plan.
I'm going to level with you. I'm no business man. I'm not after your characters. In fact, all that I really want to do is keep mine. I'm afraid of losing them, because I made them when I was in 4th grade. They kept me going throughout the bullying, I looked up to them as an ideal I strived toward. I want YOUR story in my story. SCP's story in my story, because of how complex, amazing, and ominous it is. It inspires me. It deserves to be seen by billions of people.
Now I'm going to put my cards down and show you what the plan was.
If we bend the license around this one film, my company can begin to build trust with you guys and we can hopefully make more movies down the road (depending on how complicated of a process it would be).
Then, I would gain the options (An option is the exclusive right to buy something in the future, which includes rights. And rights can have time limits on them) for the individual characters and elements of your website I would have in my story (Not script, mind you. I want to confirm I have the characters prior to using them).
After that, if you all are interested in helping, we would write the story and script for the film and make sure that everything's in order film-wise. I would do the heavy-lifting with that. Meaning, I would put the script in format, collaborate with you guys, and figure out how to portray whatever abstract ideas you want.
Then we would begin filming. Then edit. Then distribute.
I SINCERELY — and I oh so truly mean this — want to make this film a thing. People already love Containment Breach and I can see the success in it if it is done right.
I don't want to beat a dead horse in selling this though, so enough of that. I just want something to be clear. These characters are yours and they will ALWAYS be yours no matter what happens.
I'm not going to lie to you, we will have to change the writing style because of movie formula. However, the theme and atmosphere CAN stay the same, and that's why I want you guys to help me write this beauty. It's vital to staying true to your writing WHILE writing a film masterpiece.
Any questions?
I responded as follows:
I'm sorry. I have discussed this with the rest of the staff.
It is not that we're afraid of you stealing our characters. It is not that we think you'll somehow steal SCP from us. Yes, if we did come to an agreement, we would write out the licensing agreement with you in such a way as to make sure that it did not happen. That being said, we have an obligation to the community to be good stewards of that part of the license we control, and we do not believe that this is a step that serves the users well, or that they would particularly like.
The reasons you give for wanting the license waived are not, to our eyes, good ones. If you want to make an SCP movie, then you'll need to be as trusting as the rest of us, that the community will take good care of your characters, your themes, and your ideas as you intend to with ours. You are asking for trust, but you are extending none of your own. We cannot in good faith accept your offer. This is our final decision. Good day.
This was approved by all members of staff in chat. Troy also gave his approval for the refusal and final decision, making three admins (myself, Photo, and Troy) as a quorum.