sequels/fan fiction

[Bruce Appelbaum]

     It's interesting that this appears on the Wired website.  Wired and 
     Walter Jon Williams are currently in a battle over the rights to the 
     name HotWired.  WJW wrote an SF novel of that name many years before 
     Wired/Hotwired existed.  WJW retained rights to the name by refusing 
     to allow the movie Johnny Mnemonic to be called Hardwired.  A computer 
     game of the Hardwired novel is being put together.
     
     Now WJW and Wired are in court over Wired's saying they have dibs on 
     the name and WJW can't use it anymore.
     
     Many of the "owners" of the characters and properties (especially 
     Paramount) are going after people using their property without 
     authorization, to the point where fan websites have been threatened 
     with legal action unless they remove any images, likenesses, etc. that 
     may infringe upon their copyrights, trademarks, etc.
     
     Now, in the case of TRP, perhaps publication (or announced 
     publication) of an unauthorized sequel to GR, will finally draw him 
     out in the open to take legal action.  Picture TRP testifying on 
     CourtTV!  ("Tell me, Mr. Pynchon, do you currently or have you ever 
     used the name Wanda Tinasky?"  "Mr. Pynchon, can you briefly explain 
     what Gravity's Rainbow is about?"  "Mr. Pynchon, have you ever lost a 
     harmonica in a commode in Boston?")


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: sequels/fan fiction
Author:  millison at online-journalist.com (Doug Millison) at Internet
Date:    8/14/97 7:52 AM


In light of the recent thread on sequels, there's an interesting story 
about "fan fiction" (stories published on the Internet by fans, based on 
copyrighted characters, movies, novels, etc.) at 
http://www.hotwired.com/synapse/feature/97/31/brown4a_1.html -- a scary 
thought, Pynchon-L joining forces to create an online sequel to GR...
     
D O U G  M I L L I S O N ||||||||||||| millison at online-journalist.com