McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
just curious
Danny-boy:
--- Quote from: Starbeam on January 03, 2009, 03:30:44 AM ---I think it's something like sending yourself an empty envelope, or whatnot, and then later on putting something in it. I think this is the thread dealing with all that stuff.
--- End quote ---
See...I had always heard for it to work you had to send the material to yourself (just to get the postmark) and keep it sealed. Then if needed you could show the postmark and then open the envelope (in front of a lawer or judge or what have you) and show that you in fact wrote said material on or before the postmarked date.
AverageGuy:
--- Quote from: Tribblechomper on January 03, 2009, 03:11:58 AM ---But how does one fake the USPS-issued postmark, without a DeLorean and a flux capacitor??
--- End quote ---
You don't. You fake the seal. You never seal it in the first place. Or you seal it with a paperclip. Or you carefully open the envelope and redo the glue. All of which probably adds up to why there are no cases where someone's successfully won with this method.
--- Quote ---Tell that to the family of the late Art Buchwald and ask his heirs about "Coming To America" with Eddie Murphy...
Quoting Wikipedia:
"Buchwald was also known for the Buchwald v. Paramount lawsuit, which he and partner Alain Bernheim filed against Paramount Pictures in 1988 in a controversy over the Eddie Murphy film Coming to America; Buchwald claimed Paramount had stolen his script treatment. He won, was awarded damages, and then accepted a settlement from Paramount. The case was the subject of a 1992 book, Fatal Subtraction: The Inside Story of Buchwald V. Paramount by Pierce O'Donnell and Dennis McDougal."
--- End quote ---
Just read the article on the case. Paramount optioned a treatment, didn't pick up the option, and then made an ostensibly different movie using an outline remarkably similar to the treatment. That's more than a story idea, that hits original work of authorship territory.
The line when it comes to ideas is somewhat fuzzy, but for example, one could potentially write a story about a wizard, a member of a wizard council which is at war with vampires, without necessarily infringing on JB's intellectual property. Or a story about a wizard-PI. Two authors can write completely different stories based on the same ideas. That's why section 102b of the Copyright Act says, "In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea..." Of course, there's protection once you get beyond the idea stage. And depending on the sum of the work, how many other ideas in the work are similar, how many new ideas there are, how many other similarities there are between characters and situations, with the structure of the story, the second author could run into trouble.
Tribblechomper:
--- Quote from: AverageGuy on January 04, 2009, 02:47:20 AM ---...for example, one could potentially write a story about a wizard, a member of a wizard council which is at war with vampires, without necessarily infringing on JB's intellectual property. Or a story about a wizard-PI. Two authors can write completely different stories based on the same ideas.
--- End quote ---
So, I can't write me a story about a Wizard PI (Postal Inspector), who sticks his nose into police cases, has a rabbit skull on his desk that is home to an enchanted methane cloud (the result of eating an Ensorcelled Burrito made with refried beans that were from Jack's Beanstalk), that gives him advice on matters mystic? ;D :D :P
Captain's Honor:
Um . . . I think that would a little too close to the original for comfort . . . ;)
Starbeam:
My reply got erased cause of the messup thing, but generally, that sort of story could be considered parody and be okay. Sort of like Bored of the Rings.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version