Sunday, March 29, 2009

How to Win the Russet Noon Lawsuit

Full Title: How to win the Russet Noon Lawsuit and make a Million Zillion Dollars

The latest bit in the Russet Noon Saga seems to be that the author of that particular apparently-infringing work (note I'm going legal here?) is considering putting it up in installments on her blog. Now, since any traffic would make her some money, it still doesn't fall into the realm of fair use and she still can end up paying Meyers (or any other copyright holder) all her profit, plus penalties.

It occured to me, after Lady Sybilla dropped by, that there is a single escape clause at this moment. Parody.

Because the actual work has not been unveiled, only a number of really heavy-handed promo pieces, that the whole thing could still be played for laughs. This will result in death threats, of course, but it can still be quite profitable.

Here's what I'd do, if I found out that my wife was suffering from split personalities and had just produced Meyer fanfic under the name "Lady Sybilla". I assure you that this is NOT the case, but go with me here.


  1. I would continue the promotional acts in progress, writing-oblivious-press-releases, hiring-actors, and other items designed to bullbait the Meyer / Little Brown / Summit (MLBS) right holding groups.

  2. I would act for the next three months in all ways as if the original serious fanfic novel was going to come out on schedule in some way.

  3. I would quickly rewrite the story with the following two changes - 1) every bad habit Meyer has as a writer would be exaggerated, and 2) all the characters would be vegetables, primarily potatoes: Sparkly vampire potatoes, hairy lycanthrope potatoes, angst-filled teenage celery.

  4. When I finally published it, the blog universe would reverbrate with the power of the hoax -- even if the parody wasn't particularly well done -- and any legal actions by the MLBS group would become moot, since (A) the novel is obviously parody, and (B) the sardonic marketing for the parody is not itself in any way a copyright violation.

  5. Then I would change my name and cash the checks anonymously, fearing for my life each time I signed the pseudonym.



A million zillion copies would be sold. Well, a few thousand anyway.

But what I'd really like is for someone else, not Meyer or Sybilla, to write this work and publish it, since it is settled law that titles are not copyrightable!

9 comments:

Shawn Scarber Deggans said...

Yummy! "Steak" and potatoes.

Anonymous said...

Great idea Dal, has anyone tried Douglas Adams? I think he could pull it off.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Dal Jeanis said...

Wow, Zlsky is a busy spammer, isn't she? 5 spam posts deleted and spam blog reported.

apb148 - he probably could have, but he died in 2001.

Sybilla said...

What's the matter, Dal? Can't handle the ironic duality of worldwide popularity?

Hmmm . . . I wonder what universe I should take over next? Star Wars, Harry Potter, or perhaps Lord of the Rings.

Oh, Dear! So many choices, so little time!

Anonymous said...

So many OCD narcissistics with possible Asperger's Syndrome, so much time!

Andy said...

Sorry, but "parody" didn't really help Alice Randall's case with The Wind Done Gone.

Dal Jeanis said...

Hi BenPranced. Welcome.

I don't find anything in Wikipedia to make me change my comment regarding TWDG. As I understand it, "parody" is the legal term for the fair use loophole that led to the vacating of the injunction against publication. It doesn't necessarily mean "humor".

The court in SunTrust v. Houghton Mifflin et al allowed the publication, but the way the wind was blowing... heh... also allowed the plaintiffs to force a settlement due to the excessive amount of copying.

Which is as it should be, I believe.

Dal Jeanis said...

Lady Sybilla -

Welcome back, and good luck with that! Have you considered taking over _1632_?

Dal