More Independent Support
I've been approached by a judicial reform advocacy foundation in Washington D.C. which sees my case as a cause worth supporting. Talks are ongoing.
Regardless of whether this group gets actively involved or not, what this means is that -- regardless of what happens with my issues with Brown and Random House and Sony -- the lack of a trial is spawning a whole new enegetic group of people who smell a rat and have the motivation, means, reputation and resources to carry on independently.
The longer that Random House and Sony prevent these issues from coming to trial, the more of this is going to develop.
Again, the key is that once they are involved, they're yet another independent group I cannot control which has its own beef with this case. Regardless of whether I am dead, gone, ruined, settle or whatever, they continue.
Their involvement -- along with the many ordinary readers who have written me to say they see plagrarism -- also demonstrates that we have a clear controversy of fact here that requires a trial to settle.
Random House and Sony may have the megabucks to bury me by gaming the legal process, but the longer that happens, the more groups like this will develop ... and which will continue long after my fight is done.
Regardless of whether this group gets actively involved or not, what this means is that -- regardless of what happens with my issues with Brown and Random House and Sony -- the lack of a trial is spawning a whole new enegetic group of people who smell a rat and have the motivation, means, reputation and resources to carry on independently.
The longer that Random House and Sony prevent these issues from coming to trial, the more of this is going to develop.
Again, the key is that once they are involved, they're yet another independent group I cannot control which has its own beef with this case. Regardless of whether I am dead, gone, ruined, settle or whatever, they continue.
Their involvement -- along with the many ordinary readers who have written me to say they see plagrarism -- also demonstrates that we have a clear controversy of fact here that requires a trial to settle.
Random House and Sony may have the megabucks to bury me by gaming the legal process, but the longer that happens, the more groups like this will develop ... and which will continue long after my fight is done.
posted by Lewis Perdue at 7:02 PM
12 Comments:
That's good. I hope someone will listen. I see RH has started their own film division. They've pretty much got it all now.
You have films though, and without having to write a screenplay. That's the best way.
As for my story since no NY publisher will take a history that contains family history, even with national event involvement. I'll have to copy what the other guy did. It seems to be the way to success these days. I'll change the lede though, and the arrangements will occur on different pages. That's the ticket!
Hang in there ... truth will out.
Well, it's all true, but the presentation has to be just right and formulaic or they won't accept it. In other words it has to be potboiler in order to appeal to a broad audience. They won't take a biography of a little known historical figure even mixed in with a cast everyone has heard of. One can certainly copy that macro.
They told me I didn't write it with the general reader in mind. The publishing game is a frustrating world, and selling the product to these conglomerates is the task at hand. Whatever it takes, but not actual infringement of course. Whatever that is.
It's pretty common in the movie industry, too, to hear warnings of "don't write screenplays about your family history, no one's interested". My ent. attorney told me that in our very first discussion.
Publishers tell us pretty much the same thing about novels, never mind that we have examples like Cold Mountain on the market which I don't think is particularly formulaic and written for the general reader. There are a lot of mixed messages. I completely understand your frustration.
Yeah, it started out with a screenplay on spec. Nobody wanted it. The book is not your average family history. Not when you have Benedict Arnold, Aaron Burr, and George Washington in the cast with the ancestors.
If I can't tell their story who the hell can, or should? It's complete BS, but I've remodeled the concept to hide that is a family story. Now it's just the event.
It's also nonfiction.
Everytime I turn around, somebody's suing someone for plagiarism. I hear J.K. Rowling has a few lawsuits on the go.
What an absolute crock of shit.
If most of the Da Vinci Code came from your book, then how come you didn't achieve the same level of success with it?
This is all about money, go on, admit it.
Well Karen, it's not about money.
All I wanted was an acknowledgement. But Random House had to sue rather than give me credit.
And if you read the rest of the material, you'll find that I'm committed to donating anything I win from the suit.
There are many reasons one book succeeds and another does not. One key factor is promotion. Dan Brown's publisher is a master at it. Mine have spent next to nothing.
I know this is a bit off-topic, but if you see what Sony did with the new DRM fiasco, then it's very easy to understand all the underhandedness that Random House are displaying. It seems that Bertelsmann got a finger in the pie with everything that's shady.
Yes, the Random House/Bertelsmann connection with Sony/BMG's covertly installed hacker rootkit came to mind when I read about Random House's own digital "pay per page" project they hastily announced.
One might hope that they'd learn from the Sony/BMG fiasco and blizzard of lawsuits ... but then, you'd think that publisher's would have learned from the experience of the musis industry in general --- something that has not happened.
I think it's really a shame you can't sue people for stupidity. ;) It always seems to be the "BIG" companies that try these funny things. There is probably hope at the end of the tunnel, look how long the tabacco industry fought and said that there is no link between smoking and cancer. With enough pressure companies like Random House and Sony would be made to behave. I hope... ;)
Well, the marketplace does a fair job of correcting for stupidity and arrogance.
Of course, when you have a near-monopoly on books like Random House does in the U.S., sometimes it takes governmental and/or legal action such as Sony/BMG is experiencing.
That sort of thing may not happen immediately, but the arrogance makes it inevitable that such companies will inevitably make the sort of mistake that provides an opening.
There were people watching and waiting for Sony to give them the opportunity. Sony finally did.
Most big corporations have a host of people watching and waiting. And those people are very patient.
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