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Ok, I‘m not done with my thoughts on #cockygate. As readers I think we all know certain genres use certain words in their titles and have certain types of covers. I know I‘ve seen some comments on covers - I think it was YA fantasy but it still applies. Cocky is a word that could reasonably be expected to be in the title of a romance book. Just like we might see sword in a fantasy book‘s title. These are cues that let us know what we‘re getting.
jpmcwisemorgan I‘m ok with protecting a series name or aspects of your book that are highly specific to your book, like, oh, naming your character Harry Potter. If JKR wanted to strongly encourage people to not name a character after her very well-known character that makes sense. One could argue that another person was trying to ride her coattails, especially if it was in the same genre. 7y
jpmcwisemorgan I could see JKR letting it slide if I‘ve named a side character Harry Potter and said no, not THAT Harry Potter, it‘s so annoying that people always think that, for goodness sake I‘m not even a wizard, I‘m an ACCOUNTANT. Both names are pretty common. I could reasonably make a character Harry or them have a last name of Potter. It‘s when they‘re together it‘s potentially a problem, which is why I can understand trademarking a SERIES title. 7y
jpmcwisemorgan But, in general, readers aren‘t stupid and they‘re not going to think my accountant named Harry Potter is THE Harry Potter. Just like readers are probably not mistaking a standalone book with cocky in the title for series with something like 17 books in it. If you‘ve read that many books in a series you likely know what you‘re clicking on. 7y
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Chrissyreadit Just read through your posts- this sounds crazy and power triply. I do not believe independent words should ever be held hostage. 7y
jpmcwisemorgan @Chrissyreadit Same. That‘s really the vibe I‘ve gotten from her own posts. 7y
ReadingOver50 #boycottfaleenahopkins you can‘t trademark a commenly used word 7y
LibrarianRyan @jpmcwisemorgan while I agree with everything you said, did you know JKR was sued for copyright infringement. One of the supporting statements was Harry Potter. An orphan boy with magical abilities. The other book was out 3 years before HP1. It sucked and I could see why she lost future contracts. I used to have to talk to kids about copyright and always used this case as an example 7y
jpmcwisemorgan @LibrarianRyan Yes, I did know JKR was sued but I don‘t recall it being the same name, but that there were some similar ideas, etc. 7y
LibrarianRyan @jpmcwisemorgan yep. Same name. There were multiple other similarities but having read the book it was small things that could be common. In fact the kids name in the original Trolls (80s b horror movie ) is Harry Potter. I'd have to dig for my notes for all the other similarities. 7y
Chrissyreadit @LibrarianRyan I did not know about JKR. I do know MNShylamon made a movie almost identical to a book I had read with no repercussions and I thought that odd. I‘m bummed it cost JKR contracts- is that why she does not have new HP books? 7y
LibrarianRyan @Chrissyreadit it didn't cost JKR anything. She won and the plaintiff had to pay all court costs for both sides. It was found there was not enough similarities for there to be copyright violations. Plus the judge had written that this case seemed a money grab because the plaintiff has a book that no one bought but she waited until the 3D movie to make a complaint. If she had truely thought it was infringement she would have aired earlier since the 7y
LibrarianRyan Books had already been out and popular. JKR won. Big time. Plus the book she was accused of plagerizing was only in print I. The us and JKR could prove that she had been working on her story for years before the other lady was published. 7y
jpmcwisemorgan @LibrarianRyan & @Chrissyreadit That sounds more familiar now. As for not having anymore HP she has said multiple times she was done and wanted to explore other things, which could include the HP universe and we‘re seeing that with Fantastic Beasts. Also, she has a mystery series that‘s three books in now. 7y
Chrissyreadit @LibrarianRyan @jpmcwisemorgan thanks for the info! 7y
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