Re: Lolita's copyright

On Sun, Jul 04, 1999, Derric G. Oliver <derric[_at_]mill.net> wrote:
>
> in my layman opinion, it appears that "lo's diary" is an expression of
> an idea, which should not require permission. this seems different from
> a derivative work, which is an adaptation of an existing work. further,
> a derivative work (usually) requires use of the original work in order
> to generate a tangible copy of the new work. right? for instance,
> adding words to music requires the actual music (the original work) to
> 'perform' the new words in song. however, the expression in "lo's
> diary" does not appear to require the use of the original work's
> expression, only the original idea.
>
> it sounds as if the publishers of "lolita" are trying to protect the
> idea of "lolita", which doesn't seem correct to me. am i off base here?

I think you're a little off base. Writing an unauthorized sequel, prequel, or "another point of view" to an already-published novel involves not just "ideas" but specific expression of the original author, such as duplicating original characters as well as copying key plot points, dialogue, locations, relationships, events, etc. -- much of which is likely to be expression rather than mere "idea". Would Tom Clancy be out of line if he tried to stop me from rewriting HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER from the viewpoint of a different character? Or writing a Jack Ryan thriller of my own, using some of the characters from Clancy's novels? What if I decided to make a STAR WARS movie of my own, with a new plot and viewpoint, but with many of the same characters and locations?

One of the things that makes this issue so interesting, and difficult, is, of course, that we want to protect authors' rights to their original creations, but we also want those creations to be available to other artists as a legitimate source of inspiration (as opposed to mere imitation). This case (if it hadn't settled) would have been about where to draw that line.

Bob

Robert C. Cumbow
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Received on Tue Jul 06 1999 - 20:25:26 GMT