I hear there's a new War of the Worlds

A. Yes - and what an apt title. H G Wells's epic tale of monstrous invaders from Mars is being remade - but the battle is spilling over into the courtroom.

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Q. How so
A. The film was first made in 1953 from a Wells book that stared life as an 1898 magazine story set in Surrey. Now a �40 million version, backed by a group of Seattle entrepreneurs, is being made by the Pendragon movie company. But copyright ownership is in dispute - and the lawyers have been brought in.

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Q. Surely won't HG's descendants have a say
A. Seems unlikely. 'It was all signed away a long time ago in deals I am not sure a good lawyer would sign today,' said Martin Wells, 71, grandson of the writer.

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Q. So who does own the rights to War of the Worlds
A. Pendragon's advisers say their film is based on the original story, which is out of copyright in America, but not in Europe. The Paramount studio bought the rights to a 1925 version of the story 'in perpetuity' in the 1940s. Rock musician Jeff Wayne, who in 1978 recorded a successful 'concept album' of the story, has laid claim to part of the rights.

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Q. What will happen next
A. Lawyers will make money.

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Q. More about Wells please
A. Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was an English novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian, best known for his science-fiction stories. He was born in Bromley, Kent, son of a shopkeeper and a professional cricketer. When his father's business failed, Wells was apprenticed to a draper. In 1883 he became a pupil-teacher at Midhurst Grammar School and later won a scholarship to study biology. In 1891 he married his cousin Isabel and continued his career as a teacher in a correspondence college. From 1893 he became a full-time writer. He left Isabel for one of his students, Amy Catherine, whom he married in 1895.

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Q.� And his science fiction novels
A.� His debut was The Time Machine, a science fiction tale of trips to the year 802701 that parodied the English class system - and warned about the stagnation of 'progress'. Next came The Island of Dr Moreau, in which a mad scientist transforms animals into human creatures; The Invisible Man (1897), a story of a scientist who has tampered with nature in pursuit of superhuman powers; The War of the Worlds (1898); The First Men on the Moon (1901).

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Q.� So what makes War of the Worlds so special
A.� Several reasons. War of the Worlds was written in response to the unification and militarisation of Germany in 1870 - with the dreaded Hun as the mechanised Martian. It also coincided with public interest in the red planet at that time. In 1894 Mars was particularly near Earth, leading to much observation and discussion. Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli had reported seeing 'canali' on Mars, meaning 'channels', but the term was mistranslated as 'canals', leading to speculation about life on Mars. The rumour gained greater credence when another observer reported seeing strange lights coming from the planet.

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Orson Welles, the great actor and film-maker was always a fan of the novel and his famed 1938 radio broadcast re-enacted the book as a newscast and duped Americans into believing there was a real Martian invasion. It did much for Welles's career and Wells's book sales.

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The 1953 film starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson - and set in the States - won an Oscar for its special effects. Jeff Wayne's album, one of the last of its kind in the emerging punk era, also added to the novel's interest.

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By Steve Cunningham