THE
LEGAL
RULES
2
The Legal Rules is produced annually as a service to fandom by Jerry
William Lapidus, 54 Clearview Drive, Pittsford, New York 14534. This, the
second edition, is also a Cult publication, probably for 243.25, or
thereabout. Copies are available from the above address for a dime or two
6¢ stamps. A JeWeL publication , second is this particular series of
magazines.
--Notes on the Second Edition--The material here is taken from the first
edition of this publication and, where necessary and appropriate, from the
official tape of the St. Louis Convention Business Meeting.I will first
present the complete minutes of that meeting, and will follow this by the
current rules, as appended and altered by the meeting. In the case of
material unclear or otherwise requiring explanation, I will comment or
explain /_thusly._/ I apologize for any mistakes present; I would
appreciate being made aware if such errors exist, so that they may be
corrected for future editions
********************
The Minutes
1. The report of the committee on conventions was accepted. The report
(which will also be referred to later):
1. The name of the science fiction convention now held in North
America and styled the "World Science Fiction Convention" should
be changed to the North American Science Fiction Convention
(NASFic).
2. A true World (or International) Science Fiction Convention (or
Congress, etc.) being desirable, it is recommended that a
committee be set up at St. Louis to confer with similar
committees and individual fans in Europe, the Pacific, etc., to
suggest suitable mechanisms for holding such conventions.
3. To maintain the continuity of the name "World Science Fiction
Convention," the following interim plan is suggested.
The World Science Fiction Convention title shall rotate through
continental zones in a pre-arranged manner. One of these zones
shall be North America. The fans of each zone shall determine
as they see fit which convention in their zone shall assume the
title "World Science Fiction Convention" when the title is
resident in their zone. In North America the NASFic would
automatically assume the title when the title is resident
in North America.
4. The numbering of the NASFic shall continue the numbering from
the former World Science Fiction Conventions in order to
preserve continuity when dealing with hotels.
2. This report was accepted as an official motion.
3. To clarify the situation, a motion was passed "That the name of the
World Science Fiction Convention be changed to the North American
Science Fiction Convention, not to take effect before 1972."
4. To further clarify, the following was also passed: "Whenever an
international science fiction convention shall be held in North America,
such a congress shall be combined with the North American Science
Fiction Convention."
5. That the Eastern Region of the rotation plan, as defined in the rules,
be expanded to include the following: St. Pierre and Miquelon (French
islands south of Newfoundland), Bermuda, the Bahamas, and all islands in
the Caribbean Sea not previously included in the Eastern Region,
and other islands similarly situated. This motion to take effect
immediately after the conclusion of the 1970 World Science Fiction
Convention.
6. That when the World Science Fiction Convention is held outside North
America, the portion of the voting regulations which requires physical
attendance at the voting session for the selection of the North American
Convention site to be chosen at that convention shall be suspended.
Instead, the convention site for two years hence shall be chosen by
an Australian mail ballot to be administered by that convention
committee. Any person who owns any type membership in that convention
and that two years hence /_ i.e., 1970 and 1972_/ shall be eligible to
vote. The regular voting rules shall be immediately reinstated at
the succeeding American convention.
7. The following was tabled and made a special order for the business
meeting at the 1971 convention: "Since the current advance registration
voting system successfully operates to eliminate from voting on a
convention site those persons who have no real interest in the site of
that convention and since there are some persons who have a sincere
interest in attending the convention to be voted upon who are not able
to attend the voting session for financial or other reasons, it is
moved:
1. That persons who would be eligible to vote if they were able to
attend in person be able to join and vote by mail.
2. That the exact details of carrying this out be left to the
convention committee in charge so that they should be guided by
the mechanisms of the various professional societies which
regularly hold voting by mail.
8. That the entry "No Award" be made mandatory in each and every category
of the Hugos. This motion to take effect with the awards to be given
out in 1970 and thereafter. This motion applies to both permanent
categories and those which the individual conventions establish on a
temporary basis.
9. To delete the novelette category from the roster of the Science Fiction
Achievement Awards, or Hugos, which would raise the wordage limitation
on the short story category from its present ceiling of less than 7500
words to an upper limit of less than 17,500 words, thus encompassing all
stories previously defined as either short stories or novelettes.
10. To officially designate the U.S.-originated Science Fiction
Achievement Award Hugo as an English-language award, with eligibility
limited to material presented in English, including first translations
from other languages. If and when a North American Science Fiction
Convention is established, then during the years the World Science
Fiction Convention resides in a non-English-speaking-country, the
North American Science Fiction Convention shall administer the Hugo.
At all other times, the world convention will retain this
responsibility. This motion to take effect in 1971.
11. Resolution: The 27th World Science Fiction Convention recommends that
the professional magazines indicate the official word count of their
published stories.
12. That the five-year plan as adopted at the Baycon be changed back to
the original three-year rotation plan as set up before the adoption of
the four year rotation plan. Effective as of 1971.
13. Resolution: Establish an emergency trust fund so that money can be
banked and made available for emergencies. /_The money to come from
that collected and not used for the repair or replacement of the screen
and to be administered by Joe Hensley._/
The Rules of the World Science Fiction Society
1.01 The World Science Fiction Society /_The demise of the World
Science Fiction Convention as such will most likely require the
substitution of the name National Science Fiction, or more likely the North
American Science Fiction Convention, for the former in this document. But
since this change is not complete, we will continue to use the original
title.__/ is an unincorporated literary society whose functions are: to
choose the recipients of the annual Science Fiction Achievement Awards,
known as the Hugos; to choose the location for the annual World Science
Fiction Convention; and to attend the annual World Science Fiction
Convention.
1.02 The membership of the World Science Fiction Society at any time
consists of all those who have paid membership dues to the then current
convention committee.
1.03 The management and responsibility for all phases of the annual
World Science Fiction Convention lies entirely with the convention
committee, which acts in its own name, not that of the society. The
convention committee which puts on the convention is, of course, the
committee whose bid for selection of its location is accepted by the annual
meeting of the Society.
2.01 The selection of the Science Fiction Achievement Awards,
nicknamed Hugos, will be made as follows.
2.02 Best Novel: A science fiction or fantasy story of 40,000
words or more, appearing for the first time during the previous calendar
year. Appearance in a prior year makes a story ineligible, except that the
author may withdraw a version from consideration if he feels that version
is not representative of what he wrote. A story may thus be eligible only
once. Publication date, or cover date in the case of a dated magazine,
takes precedence over the copyright date. A serial takes its appearance to
be the date of the last installment. Individual stories appearing as a
series are eligible only as individual stories, and are not eligible taken
together under the title of the series. The convention committee may move
a story into a more appropriate category if it feels it necessary, provided
the story is within 5,000 words of the category limits.
2.03 Best Novella: Rules as for best novel, with length under
40,000 words and above 17,500 words.
2.04 Best Short Story: Rules as for best novel, with length under
17,500 words.
2.05 Best Dramatic Presentation: Any production, directly related
to science fiction or fantasy, in the fields of radio, television, stage,
or screen, which has been publicly presented for the first time in its
present form during the previous calendar year. In the case of individual
programs presented as a series, the separate programs shall se individually
eligible, but the entire year's production taken as a whole under the title
of the series shall not be eligible.
2.06 Best Professional Artist: A professional artist whose work was
presented in some form in the science fiction or fantasy field during the
previous calendar year.
2.07 Best Professional magazine: Any magazine devoted primarily to
science fiction or fantasy, which has published four or more issues, at
least one issue appearing in the previous calendar year.
2.08 Best Amateur Magazine: Any generally available
non-professional magazine devoted to science fiction, fantasy, or related
subjects, which has published four or more issues, at least one appearing
in the previous calendar year.
2.09 Best Fan Writer. /_No details have been given for either this
or the best fan artist awards. Thus I would suggest the following wording,
based upon the awarding of these particular awards in the past: Any fan
whose work has appeared in an amateur magazine in the previous calendar
year. The question of exactly what constitutes a "fan" should also be
decided at the soonest possible date._/
2.10 Best Fan Artist. /_See above._/
2.11 Additional Categories: Not more than two special categories may be
created by the convention committee with nomination and final voting to be
the same as for the other, permanent categories. The convention committee
is not required to create any such categories; they should be held to a
minimum, and those created by one convention committee are not binding on
following committees. Awards under these categories will be Science
Fiction Achievement Awards or Hugos.
2.12 The name and design shall not be extended to any other award
whatsoever.
2.13 No Award: At the discretion of the individual convention
committee, if a lack of nominations or final votes in a specific category
shows a marked lack of interest in that category on the part of the voters,
the award in that category shall be cancelled for that year. In addition,
the entry "No award" shall be mandatory in each and every category of the
Hugos. This applies to both permanent categories and those which the
individual conventions establish on a temporary basis.
2.14 The Science Fiction Achievement Award is an English-language
award, with eligibility limited to material presented in English, including
first translations from other languages. If and when a National or North
American Science Fiction Convention is established, then during the years
the World Science Fiction Convention resides in a non-English-speaking-
country, the North American Science Fiction Convention shall administer the
Hugo. At all other times, the world convention will retain this
responsibility. This motion to take effect in 1971.
2.15 Nominations and Voting: Selection of nominees for the final
award voting shall be done by a poll conducted by the convention committee
under rules determined by the committee. Final award voting shall be by
mail, with ballots sent only to Society members. Final ballots shall
include name, signature, address, and membership number, to be filled in.
Final ballots shall standardize alternatives given in each category to not
more than five. Assignment of nominees nominated in more than one category
to their proper one and eligibility of nominees shall be determined by the
convention committee. Voters shall indicate the order of their preference
for nominees in each category.
2.16 Tallying: Counting of all votes shall be the responsibility of
the convention committee, which is responsible for all matters concerning
awards. In each category, votes shall be first tallied by the voters'
first choice. In the event no majority vote is then obtained, the nominee
placing last will be eliminated and the ballots listing him as first choice
redistributed on the basis of the ballots' second listed choice. The
process will be repeated until a majority vote winner is obtained.
2.17 No member of the then current convention committee nor any
publication closely connected with them shall be eligible for an award.
2.18 The Hugo award will continue to be standardized as to the
design of the rocket ship on the model presently in use. The design of the
base is up to each convention committee.
3.01 /_The committee report (see page one) regarding North American
and International conventions, which cannot take effect before the 1972
convention and which, in any case, will most likely be altered at Heicon,
is to be placed here. To save space, I will not recopy it here, but will
merely remind you to check page one for the details. In summary, the
report provided for: name change, to NASFic; set-up of a committee to
organize truly international conventions; interim plan for the rotation of
the World Convention; and a continuation of the Worldcon numbering in the
NASFic.__/
3.02 /_Again, as with the early items, we will keep the name of the
World Science Fiction Convention, even though the ruling has changed the
title of "our" convention to the NASFic, since those rules are not to take
effect until 1972._/ The Society shall choose the sites for the annual
World Science Fiction Conventions two years in advance at a business
meeting to be held at an advertised time during each annual World Science
Fiction Convention, presided over by the chairman of the then current
convention committee, or by someone designated by the committee. The
business meeting shall be conducted under Robert's Rules of Order, Revised,
and such other rules the then current committee may publish in the program
book.
3.03 To assure an equitable distribution of convention sites, the
North American continent is divided into three geographical divisions, as
follows:
Western Division--New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana,
Saskatchewan, and states and provinces westward;
and Baja California.
Central Division--All Mexico except Baja California, and all states
and provinces between the Western Division
and the Eastern Division.
Eastern Division--Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina,
Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Quebec,
and states and provinces eastward; immediately
after the 1970 convention, also St. Pierre and
Miquelon, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and all islands
of the Caribbean Sea not previously included in
this region, and other islands similarly
situated.
3.04 Convention sites shall be rotated among these divisions and the
rest of the world in the following order: West, Central, East, with any
country outside North America bidding every fifth year. /_After the 1970
convention, this will revert to the old three year rotation plan, with the
convention moving between the three North American divisions._/ The bids of
locations to hold a convention shall only be considered and voted on if
they lie within the geographical division whose turn it is; except that the
rule of rotation may be set aside by a vote of three-fourths voting, with
the provision that in no case may two successive conventions be in the same
division or outside North America. In the event of such setting aside,
rotation shall be resumed the following year.
3.05 By bidding, a convention committee promises to abide by this
constitution. Proposed date and dues for the next convention must be
announced by bidding committees before site selection. Such proposals are
subject to modification by the business meeting.
3.06 In the event the society is without a properly selected
location for the next annual convention because of the resignation of the
then current convention committee or other cause, the five most recent
committee chairmen willing to serve shall be authorized to select the next
location for the World Science Fiction Convention.
3.07 Voting for sites of World Science Fiction Conventions shall be
limited to members of the/_current__/ convention who have also paid at
least $2.00 toward the dues of the convention to be voted upon. The
details of implementation shall be decided upon by each convention
committee.
3.08 When the World Science Fiction Convention is held outside North
America, the portion of the voting regulations which requires physical
attendance at the voting session for the selection of the North American
convention site to be chosen at that convention shall be suspended.
Instead, the convention site for two years hence shall be chosen by an
Australian mail ballot to be administered by that convention committee.
Any person who owns any type membership in that convention and that two
years hence shall be eligible to vote. The regular voting rules shall be
immediately reinstated at the succeeding American convention.
4.01 Any change to the forgoing rules may take effect no sooner than
the end of the convention during which such change is adopted.
4.02 All previous by-laws, constitutions, and resolutions having the
effect of by-laws and constitutions of the World Science Fiction Society
are revoked.
4.03 The rules of the World Science Fiction Society as decided in
the business meetings shall be printed by the World Science Fiction
Convention committee, and distributed with the Hugo nomination ballots, and
hopefully also printed in the program book.
Illustrations, thanks to Jim McLeod and William Rotsler.