Lawsuits As Publicity Stunts: The Da Vinci Lawsuits
from the oh-come-on dept
Earlier this month, we wrote about a ridiculous lawsuit in the UK by the author of a non-fiction book, claiming that author Dan Brown somehow "stole" the ideas in their book for his best seller, The Da Vinci Code. That case quickly was thrown out. However, it looks like others are trying the same trick, this time in the US. Another author had filed a $150 million suit in the US claiming the same thing, but it, too, has been thrown out. The judge specifically notes that this is a blatant attempt to cash in on the success of the novel. It's interesting to note the timing on both of these cases. The book has been out for years -- but the paperback just came out and the movie is about to come out. I was in a bookstore last night, and there was a huge display of Da Vinci Code books and related "stuff." It makes you wonder whether or not all these lawsuits are well timed publicity more than anything else. Update: The author involved in the story here has responded himself in our comments with some additional details. Among the details is the fact that Random House sued him, and not the other way around. However, this still makes it feel more like a publicity stunt than anything else.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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I wouldn't put it past um
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Wannabes
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Re: Wannabes
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Stolen!!
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Tom Hanks
Yeah and speaking of Tom Hanks, this is off-topic, but hey...
When I first heard it was going to be Tom Hanks playing Robert Langdon, I almost lost faith in the movie (Tom Hanks is an amazing actor, but i didn't see him as Langdon). but now that I've seen the previews and the way they did him up for it, I'd say it's not bad at all. And the movie looks great. [/off-topic]
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Not getting the point...
For example, why would Michael Jackson sleep with another young boy after he already got in trouble for it once? He didn't. His publicity was falling, records weren't selling cause people weren't thinking the name Michael Jackson. So he hires a family to file a lawsuit claiming this, and gets publicity for it. Then people know his name, and although some hate him, in the end he sells more albums because of it. (Note: i have now research showing that he actually did sell more during the lawsuit, it's just my theory. Maybe sometime i'l go find data for that theory)
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Re: Not getting the point...
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Re: Not getting the point...
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Holy Blood, Holy Grail
If anything the success of the divinci code has led to the sale of more copies of that book. I dont have a doubt they were using the publicity to sell more copies.
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Da Vinci Code Litigation
- Random House sued ME; not the other way around.
- Random House filed suit to silence the facts I was posting on the web.
- There has been NO trial on the facts, only the Random House effort to prevent a trial.
- The only sworn statements made under penalty of perjury are affidavits from me and my experts, nothing from RH.
- The judge refused to consider any expert analysis proving plagiarism.
- Despite suing me first, Random House & Sony are trying to make me pay the legal fees they spent to sue me.
- Contrary to the Random House spin, I am not alleging plagiarism of general issues, but of several hundred very specific ones.
- This is not about money. Anything I win goes to charity.
- My law firm is preparing the certiorari petition now to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court
I am also expanding the team to include experts with constitutional/scholarly experience.
The biggest issue (other than the Second Circuit not following its own rules) is the fact that the Ninth Circuit out here on the West Coast has standards regarding infringement that are significantly different from the Second Circuit's especially when it comes to interpreting the lay reader role with regard to summary judgement.
The 9th consistently denies summary judgement (allowing a trial on the facts) even in cases where there are far more significant issues and far fewer of them than we have shown so far in our case.
And while the 9th has a reputation as the most overturned circuit in the nation, the Supreme Court as consistently upheld its rulings in copyright infringement.'
In the present case, the Second Circuit also failed to address any of the five main grounds included in our appeals brief, opting to rubber stamp the District Court and even referring in its opinion to the factually flawed description of the books as described by the District Court (said inaccurate descriptions, ironically, lifted mostly word-for-word from the Random House brief).
The Second Circuit also mistakenly repeated the Random House assertion that we had abandoned our infringement claims for my 1983 best-seller, The Da Vinci Legacy and failed to follow its own precedent that works be considered "as a whole."
There is more detail and comment at: http://davincicrock.blogspot.com.
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Re: Da Vinci Code Litigation
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Re: Da Vinci Code Litigation
Perdue Version: 6. This occurs on page 35.
Brown version: 6. This occurs on page 35.
Are you kidding me? So if this murder appeared on page 34 it'd be alright?
And frankly, the plot items listed out on this page are so overcooked in Hollywood that it is a wonder it hasn't collapsed upon itself.
Having Green eyes is a point for plagiarism?? Being busty?? Come on! One can find 1000s of books that specifically state a female character has green eyes. Are you going to sue Kurt Russel and everyone involved with Big Trouble in Little China?? It's exotic, it's sexy, and that's why it's in there. Not because he got it from you.
The list of plot sequences and correlations is certainly on every rolodex of gimmicks on every Studio writer's desk.
The hero and heroine are stalked by a "hulk" assassin
The hulk assassin is an "educator" or directed by one.
sarcasm
Yeah, that was certainly original in 1983.
/sarcasm
Give me a break. If you wanted to put a halt to a movie about the church, couldn't you have saved us from Hudson Hawk (1991)? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102070/
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Re: Da Vinci Code Litigation
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Re: Da Vinci Code Litigation
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I can imagine...
By the way the book is a good read, so jealousy is warranted.
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Yawn...
It wasn't all that long ago that we saw the same attempts made against the author of the Harry Potter material.
Trend? Uh, yeah, count on it...
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Brown vs Perdue
The only opinion I have to voice is...
I started Perdue's book, but I finished reading Brown's...
I'm sorry, but perdue's authorship is about as dry as the suni desert...I know because I've been there =/
Cheers
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da vinci code case
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Re: da vinci code case
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Da Vinci Code
As for law suit....of course it was a publicity stunt.....there is no way anyone with half a legal mind would or could find on behalf of the complainants......
As for Anonymous Coward's rather silly point.....fact is....both books have been selling at the rate of approx 7,000 copies a day worldwide.....no way has anyone lost any money....apart from the stupid saps that bought the book!!!
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Why someone would want to sue him is beyond me, as I'd rather not be associated with such awful writing. It sickens me, as a self-appointed connoisseur of literature, to see so many people wasting their time reading his crap when there are so many wonderful books out there.
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It's just fiction. What's next? Comic book authors get lawsuits too?
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Get a life.
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For the record, The Da Vinci Code book is complete trash. Every character has exactly one personallity trait and one emotion, and they apply it to every situation. Children's books have more complicated characters. The only reason I finished it was to see if Brown could keep it up to the end of the story, or if he would crumble and give even one character some depth, even if just to complete the plot. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.
The book definately had "Movie" written all over it. It practially read like a script, and the religious fanatics would easily stir up enough publicity for a good box-office showing.
Now if Gary Busey had been young enough to re-vamp his role in The Firm for the albino killer-guy, we would have been all set.
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Dan Brown
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Uchronie Da Vinci Code
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WW
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