Leg Lab Publicity Guidelines

Robert Ringrose

October 28, 1996

The following document describes The MIT Leg Lab's policy regarding publicity.

Copy Approval:

It is more important to us that reports about our work be accurate than that our work be publicized. In the past, we have had trouble with inaccruate reports, and with reports whose text just missed the point. As a result, we now absolutely insist on final text copy approval for all publicity with adequate time for review. We are happy to spend time editing or authoring any report about our lab. We reserve the right to prohibit publication of an article that an editor refuses to change.

Lead Time:

Photographic shoots disrupt our work. We need at least 2 weeks notice so that we can schedule the shoot for a minimally desruptive time.

Topic:

Robots are cool looking things, but we are not in the prop business. Our work cannot be used as background for someone else's work. Inclusion of our work in a survey of related work is acceptable, but having our robots in the background while something else is being discussed is not.

Older Robots:

Several older robots in the lab, most of which hang on the ceiling, were built while Marc Raibert was running the Leg Lab. He is sensitive about their publicity. Shots or discriptions of them will need to be negotiated with Marc directly.

Because of their positioning, they are part of the general lab background. If you are photographing something else and one of Marc's robots happens to be in the background, don't worry about it.

MIT Leg Lab: (617) 253-2475

Gill Pratt: (617) 253-2037

Marc Raibert: (617) 621-2929 (Boston Dynamics, Inc.)

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