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Can We Blame Fifty Shades?
Oh, here is something that I missed while away at ALA!
First, on Wednesday, June 26, GalleyCat reported that “Where The Wild Things Are” Revisited on KickStarter. GalleyCat quotes the two men behind the project as saying that “We have also been very careful not to impinge on Mr Sendak’s copyright and have taken the necessary legal advice around this whole project. We fully acknowledge his wondrous creation and hope that our work takes the story forward in a respectful, engaging and creative way.”
Yes. Talking about what appears to be a straight-up sequel of Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, rather than something protected, like a parody.
I am quoting GalleyCat quoting because guess what happened next?
Today, Friday, July 5th, GalleyCat follows up with “Where The Wild Things Are” Follow Up Pulled From KickStarter.
HarperCollins filed a DMCA notice and because of the intellectual property dispute, the KickStarter is pulled: “BACK TO THE WILD – Inspired by Where The Wild Things Are is the subject of an intellectual property dispute and is currently unavailable.” Kickstarter even includes the DMCA notice. (Note that this says it’s a dispute — not that it actually infringed.)
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If you’re curious about the project, Kicktraq has links to various news, posts and websites. More details are at The Where The Wild Things Are Sequel Got Pulled from KickStarter.
Fanfiction has existed for a long, long time. “Sophie is Max’s daughter and she too is excited to hear about the strange Wild Things, but time has elapsed. Max in our world, is now probably in his 30s and the Wild Things have been ‘marooned’ for almost 30 years.” Sounds like fanfic to me; and also sounds like it’s too little information to judge whether it fits any type of fair use exception. (If you want to read up on that, check out the Chilling Effects website.) (But honestly, if you are doing a parody wouldn’t that be in your description?)
As for me, I blame Fifty Shades of Grey for creating the notion that fanfiction is something that can now be packaged and sold.
So, your thoughts? Is this the boldest move in the world, trying to cash in on the success of a beloved, award winning book?
Or is this something that people should just chill about and let happen?
Filed under: Uncategorized
About Elizabeth Burns
Looking for a place to talk about young adult books? Pull up a chair, have a cup of tea, and let's chat. I am a New Jersey librarian. My opinions do not reflect those of my employer, SLJ, YALSA, or anyone else. On Twitter I'm @LizB; my email is lizzy.burns@gmail.com.
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