Wednesday News: Kenyon v. Clare, Editions at Play, Star Trek Continues, and Disney’s maybe-meta
Publishing NewsAladdin / Beauty-and-the-Beast / Cassandra Clare / copyright / crowdfunding / Dark-Hunter / Disney / Ebooks / Edition at Play / fan-works / Google / infringement / lawsuit / Shadowhunter / Sherrilyn Kenyon / Star Trek / trademark14 Comments
Copyright Clash Over Demon-Fighting Stories – So Sherrilyn Kenyon is suing Cassandra Clare for copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and false advertising, claiming that Clare’s “Shadowhunter” series infringes on Kenyon’s “Dark-Huner” series. According to the article above, Kenyon seeks an injunction, compensatory damages, and lost profits. Jane summarizes some of the relevant legal issues as follows:
Copyright and trademark infringement cases are largely questions of fact, which is why each case is so different and scholars caution individuals that what may have been decided in case A may not apply in case B. The model federal jury instructions ask two questions for a copyright case. Is there a valid copyright/trademark? If so, did the defendant copy original elements from the copyrighted work. Trademark is slightly different. Is there a valid mark? And if so, did the defendant, without the consent of the plaintiff in a manner that is likely to cause confusion among ordinary consumers as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or approval of the goods.
The petition itself states:
“The Dark-Hunter Series and the Shadowhunter Series are so similar that CLARE’S own publisher mistakenly printed 100,000 copies of a Shadowhunter Book referencing the Dark-Hunter Mark on the cover.”
and
“The confusion between dark-hunters and shadowhunters is so pervasive that many online library catalogs use PLAINTIFF’S Dark-Hunter Marks within their description of CLARE’s Shadowhunter Series. The Brentwood, Tennessee Library, The Williamson County Public Library, Portland Community College, King County Library System, Ames Public Library, McKinney Public Library, Clarkston Independence District Library, and the Burlington County Library System, among many other libraries in the Middle District of Tennessee and elsewhere, describe “City of Bones” by Cassandra Clare as follows:
Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.< This description of “City of Bones”, which conflates the words Shadowhunters and Darkhunters, has even found its way into the book 101 Great, Ready-to-Use Book Lists for Teens by Nancy J. Keane, Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, Copyright 2012. Ms. Keane’s guide is ranked #69 by Amazon.com in the category of Academic Library books." In the practical world, motions to dismiss and summary judgments are not often won. (And many summary judgments go unruled upon.) Judges are more likely to allows cases to go forward due to overworked dockets and the genuine desire to let the litigants have their day in court. My prediction is that this case is either settled or tried to a verdict. >A general comment: plagiarism and copyright infringement are serious charges. Unfortunately, we have seen authors get away with plagiarizing content, often with readers catching the similarities. In cases like this — e.g. Rachel Nunes — it can be daunting to sue the alleged infringer, because of cost and other issues. When Nora Roberts was plagiarized by Janet Dailey, many in the Romance community blamed Roberts for pursuing litigation. At the same time, genre fiction is filled with tropes and even expressions that are routinely used among many authors, and their common use does not amount to plagiarism and/or infringement. Sadly, accusations of plagiarism have also been weaponized in whisper campaigns between authors in ways that can have harmful consequences, especially when the accused cannot directly respond and defend him/herself. Fortunately, Clare will have the ability to respond to the accusations directly and publicly, as it should be in these cases. – Jane Litte and Courthouse News Service
Google opens an online store for ‘books that can’t be printed’ – With two short, interactive works that are meant to be read on a smartphone, Google has launched Editions at Play, a digital bookstore that has two more collections in development, short stories and essays, and aims to capitalize on the fact that dedicated e-reading devices are giving way to reading books on smartphones and other integrated devices. Has anyone checked theses out yet?
It’s a simple manifesto that marks an interesting foray into the digital arts for Google. Editions at Play is all about exploring the idea of “digital books” — not just ebooks, but books that simply can’t exist on static, printed paper. The project launched last week with a pair of new titles: Entrances & Exits by Reif Larsen, and The Truth About Cats & Dogs by Sam Riviere and Joe Dunthorne. The first is essentially a point-and-click adventure game in Google Street View, while the second is a “failed collaboration” consisting of Riviere’s and Dunthorne’s diaries which readers can switch back and forth between. – The Verge
Watch Star Trek Continues: The Critically-Acclaimed, Fan-Made Sequel to the Original TV Series – Star Trek’s immense popularity belies the fact that it only ran for three seasons, but actor/director Vic Mignogna has created a web series that will examine possible next steps and stories for Captain Kirk and his crew. Apparently even Gene Roddenberry’s son approves of the direction the new episodes take.
Thanks to funding raised by two Kickstarter campaigns, you can now watch 5 episodes. Click play and watch the episodes on a Youtube playlist above, from start to finish. Or watch them on the official Star Trek Continues website, where, among other things, you can take a 360 virtual tour of the set. You can also make a donation, which will help support the 6th episode due out in May, and another 7 episodes beyond that. – Open Culture
I’m surprised it’s taken the Cassie Claire thing this long to come to a head. Fans have been talking about the similarities since the first book came out, and the fanbase she acquired during her Harry Potter days is very aware of her history with plagiarism. Though I doubt Clare has much control over the merchandise, it’s pretty clear there is confusion between the two series.
(I really miss fandom_wank right now)
@MinaKelly: They’d be having a field day with this one, wouldn’t they?
I thought the whole joke about Belle talking about the content of the book was because it ended up being her story. It was all very meta-magic spells, far off places, sword fights (Gaston stabs the beast) and a prince in disguise. The Beast really was a prince in disguise, Aladdin wasn’t- he was a self titled “street rat” masquerading as a prince with the genie’s help so I think it fits Beauty and The Beast far better.
I also think it’s funny how Buzzfeed has a new “mind blowing” Disney theory posted nearly every day, and of course I end up reading most of them.
@MinaKelly: a semi-replacement for F_W is fail-fandomanon (at dreamwidth.org), but that’s an anon community, and it’s hard to find stuff. But there’s a discussion in post # 371 on page 4.
Re: Cassie Claire
I am with Courtney Milan on this one, https://mobile.twitter.com/courtneymilan/status/697071375001845760
I know Cassandra Clare has plagiarised in the past, but some of what Kenyon claims here are ridiculous.
Ideas can’t be copyrighted.
Like others, I’m surprised it has taken this long for someone to sue Cassie Clare; however, I’m certain that a portion of the timing of this lawsuit is due to the Shadowhunters having become a television series on, I think, Lifetime network aimed toward the very lucrative teen audience. It didn’t do well as a film (my teen hated the film) but the style of the story is supposed to have been easy to adapt to television.
The series has been out for several years. The thing I want to know is why it took this long for Ms. Kenyon to decide to pursue this… unless it’s solely related to the television series and the Clare series of books getting more exposure that way. I know I stopped reading Kenyon’s DarkHunter books years ago when they all seemed to repeat the same exact tale with different names involved.
@Christine: This one has been circulating quite a bit from what I can tell. Not sure why. I see Disney as very “meta” as a closed universe that thrives on self-referential imagery and content.
@MB: I wondered about the role of the TV series in this, too.
I’ve enjoyed several Dark-Hunter books (admittedly, I haven’t read them in the past five years or so), and I haven’t read any of Clare’s books. Still, I can’t help but be a little skeptical of the lawsuit without knowing more. So many books and series and movies have similar concepts.
I feel like it’s an interesting Mark case. Owners of trademarks are required to defend their marks in order to keep it. That Clare’s own publisher made the mistake is going to be very persuasive to a jury.
From the article, it seems like Kenyon had conversations, whether directly or through legal, regarding some of this stuff, and from her perspective there were agreements which didn’t stick – the TV deal would’ve been the cherry on the sundae of that, I imagine.
I’m a huge SK fan and active in the Goodreads group. I’ve read a couple of the exhibits now, including the character comparison one. It’s not tropes we’re dealing with here. It’s character specifics, down to the way characters dress and talk, what types of tattoos they have, their family backgrounds, and even how old they are. Particularly when you get to the comparison chart between Ash and Jace. Not to mention the Sanctuary/Nicolette Peltier parallels, Tabitha Devereaux Magnus who’s the main character in the book where Nick’s mom dies and his powers are unlocked, and various other secondary characters.
Nick Gautier’s back story and character is what Shadowhunters is mainly ripping off, from what I can tell. That back story existed before Clare started publishing, even though the first Chronicles of Nick book didn’t come out until after. A lot of it is in the Dark-Hunter books, you just have to pay attention. The books where Nick finds out he’s part demon, his powers are unlocked, and his mother is kidnapped and then dies, came out BEFORE City of Bones. It’s also known from the beginning of the series how old Nick was when he met Kyrian, how long it took before Nick found out what Kyrian really was, and how he met and become best friends with Ash. That’s all in Night Pleasures, Dark-Hunter #1, that came out in 2002.
You can’t take these specifics and find them in say, Black Dagger Brotherhood or Warriors of Poseidon or any other band of warriors paranormal romance series. General tropes, absolutely. Character specifics like this for every major primary and secondary character? Nope.
SK has been in talks for several years to have Dark-Hunter and Chronicles of Nick made into TV and movies, and does have contracts signed and scripts written. The CON movie was supposed to start filming this month, but there hasn’t even been any casting news. The filming start has been delayed at least twice that I know of.
My guess, now that there’s a lawsuit in play, is the delay on everything has to do with Clare getting her deals first.
A lawsuit like this isn’t something you file unless you have a decent shot of winning (unless you’re Tina Engler). It’s expensive, and done at the federal level. It does appear that Clare’s copying has had a detrimental affect on Kenyon’s own movie/TV deals, thereby causing her to lose money.
I’m rooting for Sherri all the way.
@Jane:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131016155852/http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/9489.html?thread=2362897#t2362897
You should also see the description that was ssent to all libraries for book one and is still to this day used:
Suddenly able to see demons, and the DarkHunters who are dedicated to sending them back to their own dimensions, fifteen year old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster herself.
Update,
Cassandra Clare strikes back at accusations of plagiarism, http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/12/cassandra-clare-hits-back-at-sherrilyn-kenyons-lawsuit-alleging-copying
Personally, I don’t think the claims can be upheld.
Some of this is just nonsensical, for example, ordinary objects being imbued with magic powers.
You know, normally I love Disney meta fan theories but I’m not really buying THIS Disney meta fan theory, it works more for Sleeping Beauty as someone said rather than “Alaadin” (and that’s what I thought it was referencing when I saw B&B waaaay back in ’92 and even the illustrations in movie don’t really give it an Agrabah type setting. Now, some of the fan theories (the idea that Rapunzel’s Mother was sister to the King in Frozen) I’ll buy, something the movies with the quick guest spot of Rapunzel and Flynn give credence too. The idea that the ship Ariel was playing around in was the ship that the King and Queen of Frozen sank in I’ll buy as well. If you haven’t seen these you should google, some people have done some SERIOUSLY awesome research!
@Anon:
Can’t even believe I’m sort of siding with Clare on this but I agree with Milan, I think Kenyon is stretching with this one. Some of the ideas she’s claiming were plagiarized are pretty darn common place in the Urban Fantasy market. Young adult or not. She claimed she invented the term glamour? No, she did not. I’m pretty sure that’s been in place for quite a while.