Quote from: Necronomicon II on Jun 17, 2023, 02:22:01 PMLol yeah, it's amusing to play around with, and 4 is much better than 3.5 (those Radiology exam results are impressive), but still not totally reliable. Prompt it to cite primary sources/in-text citations and see what happens!
Anyway, where were we, oh yeah 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZyhdj6Fezg
Also,
QuoteBurke: Look, maybe the thing didn't even exist, right? And if I'd made it a major security situation, the Administration would've stepped in. Then no exclusive rights, nothing.
and
QuoteBurke: Well, the corporation co-financed that colony with the Colonial Administration, against mineral rights. We're getting into a lot of terraforming...'Building Better Worlds.'
In short, the government gave up mineral rights to W-Y in exchange for building the facilities needed for the colony, and that included terraforming. That means the government owns everything on that rock excluding company assets that they financed plus anything underground.
Weirdly enough, and since Cameron was mentioned, I found this from an early draft of the script found here, and which was not included in the movie:
QuoteBurke: I know, I know, but we're dealing with changing scenarios here. This thing is major, Ripley. I mean really major. You gotta go with its energy. Since you are the representative of the company who discovered this species your percentage will naturally be some serious, serious money.
Finally, from the movie:
QuoteRipley: You know, Burke, I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them screwing each other over for a (expletive) percentage.
In short, Colonial Admin owns the rock and everything in and on it. It gave up everything underground (mineral rights) to W-Y in exchange for W-Y setting up the terraforming project needed for a colony to be set up, and in turn to be used for mining. That would pay off the cost of the project plus allow for a profit. It's like a public-private partnership that takes place in some countries.
What does Burke mean by "exclusive rights" then? Following the argument of surface rights, anything non-indigenous might not count:
QuoteECA Rep: No. It's a rock. No indigenous life larger than a simple virus. Ripley grits her teeth in frustration.
...
Ripley: I told you, it wasn't indigenous. There was an alien spacecraft there. A derelict ship. We homed on its beacon...
In short, if surface rights refer only to what's indigenous, it's finders keepers for the alien ship. But since no one other than a corporation will have the capital to analyze, monetize, and exploit alien tech and organisms, then one ends up sharing rights with others who do and receives a percentage.
That's why the Nostromo crew, and now just Ripley, the Jordens, and Burke get percentages. And since Burke was part of a mission under military jurisdiction, then it's clear that the government was also involved.
Last point: why does Burke make it appear that Ripley belongs to a separate company in lines from an early draft? It's possible that "company" here refers to the mining division of the W-Y Corporation. Hence, given another set of lines above, Burke's part of the terraforming division. This also explains why Burke refers to another:
QuoteBurke: Those specimens are worth millions to the bio-weapons division. Now, if you're smart we can both come out of this heroes. Set up for life.
