Friday News: KU illegal in France, Marvel’s all-female A-force, diversity and screenwriting, and tricky animal sex
Publishing NewsAgency pricing / Comics / diversity / filmmaking / fixed book prices / France / gender / nature / screenwriting / subscription services9 Comments
Kindle Unlimited Ruled Illegal in France – So the French government has determined that Kindle Unlimited violates French laws that require publishers to set book prices. While KU is not the only program affected by this ruling, it’s certainly the largest, and perhaps the most likely to survive the ruling, because of the sheer size of KU’s available books, many of which are not subject to French fixed book price laws.
To be clear, the subscription model itself is not illegal; a publisher could launch a service with just their own titles and pass legal muster. Another possible example would be a service which sold credits which could be applied to read ebooks in a catalog, or a service which let readers pay to subscribe to specific publishers (similar to premium cable channels). . . .
Curiously, Pellerin told Le Figaro that self-published ebooks as well as books by foreign publishers would not be affected by this opinion, just books published by French publishers. –The Digital Reader
Marvel announces A-Force, the first all-female Avengers team – While this is not Marvel’s first or only female-dominated team, the new A-Force seems to be pretty comprehensive. And it’s not like we have enough girl hero groups in the various comics universes.
Marvel calls the team A-Force, and it’s made up of women spanning the entirety of the Marvel Universe. From Runaways’ Nico Minoru to She-Hulk and Dazzler, the lineup is absolutely packed with powerful, diverse characters. Co-written by G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel) and Margaurite Bennet (Angela: Asgard’s Assassin) with art by Jorge Molina, A-Force seeks to include a diverse cast of women, while also introducing a few new ones—including Singularity, a cosmically powered hero. –Entertainment Weekly
The Oscars diversity snub no one is talking about – So this is interesting. In the history of the Oscars, women, especially women of color, have been denied awards, and even if consideration is extended to men of color, the numbers are absolutely dismal. Two black men, one Latino, and no Asian winners. Zero women of color have won, and only a couple have been nominated. In addition to the overwhelmingly white, male voting population, there is the fact that writers have the least amount of power on films. Not completely surprising, considering the corporate interests in filmmaking. It had me thinking about the exalted position E.L. James had in the making of the Fifty Shades film, and how that’s in contrast with the role of the screenwriter in general.
Essentially, “they’ll let women in” to this part of the filmmaking process, O’Neill says frankly. That’s a cruel, powerful sentiment echoed by many screenwriters in the business. Oscar-winning screenwriters (who later ended up taking the reins in the director’s chair) like Diablo Cody have voiced these perils, saying in an interview “most writers are shoved aside as soon as the film goes into development.” Nora Ephron, nominated thrice for classics like Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally, said she became a directorbecause she saw how powerless screenwriting was (she knew firsthand, since both her parents were also screenwriters). Diana Ossana, who won an Oscar in 2006 for co-writing Brokeback Mountain said she wouldn’t have been taken seriously without her writing partner Larry McMurtry, adding that “writers are considered bottom feeders” in Hollywood. –Mashable
Fish Faking Orgasms and Other Lies Animals Tell for Sex – Not that I’m trying to give anyone any ideas for animal romance stories, but this is an odd and oddly compelling compendium of tricks and teases that animals engage in to get them some. Like the nursery web spider, who makes a little gift for his lady love, hoping not only to win her favor with it, but also to get a little more time with her.
Female nursery web spiders build a special web where they tend their young. When they find a female, males often wrap up a nuptial gift for her: a delicious insect exquisitely wrapped in white silk. If the female accepts it, she lets the male copulate with her. Males can secure matings without giving gifts, but the copulations are 30% shorter. The longer it takes the female to unwrap and eat the gift, the longer the male gets to copulate.
For the males, gifts are expensive. It takes time and energy to capture and stun prey, transport it, and gift-wrap it in silk. So some males wrap up worthless items, like the remains of already-eaten prey or bits of plants. –BBC Earth
I’m sure you ladies have seen both of these stories: this month, Rowan Hansen asking DC Comics for more female superheroes. Favorite quote:
The second is from last year: McKenna Peterson writing to Dick’s Sporting Goods about the lack of representation of women and girls in their catalog.Favorite quote:
Notable that both companies responded…after the letters went viral. How many hundreds of letters of this nature, as well as by people of color, have been written, sent, read and trashed through the years, before social media made it impossible for big corporations to ignore them?
Um…my comment may have hit the spam filter (two links, two quotes)
@azteclady: LOVE this. Thank you for posting these links!
I’m a bit confused about the Oscar article. Didn’t Halle Berry win the Oscar for Best Actress once? Or is she not considered a woman of color? Granted, one actress is nothing when compared to the huge number of white actresses who won. There are so many talented actors and actresses of color around and they deserve recognition.
@Alix Nowarra: That’s what I thought at first too but the linked article is clear they are talking about screenwriting Oscars, not acting ones.
Not surprised at the article for Oscar screenwriting. Anyone looking for insight into how Oscar voters vote might want to check out The Hollywood Reporter’s series on anonymous voters who explain why they choose the movies/actors they do. It’s mind-blowing for the casual racism, sexism and just general wtf-ness on display from voting members of the Academy.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tag/brutally-honest-oscar-voter-ballot
@Alix Nowarra: Hattie McDaniel won an Academy Award, too, so I’m assuming ithe reference is to screenwriters, not actors?
@Danielle: Yes, it’s about screenwriters and the astounding lack of diversity for that particular category.
@azteclady:
I was recently on Scribd, and the comic company Dynamic (Red Sonja, Vampirella) is AWFUL about that. Every cover from their line-up was just one busty, bikini-wearing “babe” after another. Sometimes I want to pick up Red Sonja, because I think there’s no way it could be as popular as it is without having something of a good story, but the covers just turn me off that much.