If there were a Darwin Award for writers...

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2006-04-23 12:27am

Here's interesting news I read about on this blog: a fanfic writer stupidly selling a 'Star Wars' fanfic on Amazon.com IN FULL VIOLATION OF GEORGE LUCAS' COPYRIGHTS!

Lunaludus Scribex wrote:Friday, April 21st, 2006

12:17 pm

If there were a Darwin Award for writers...

UPDATE: Well, it appears Ms. Jareo has finally done the honorable (not to mention intelligent) thing and fallen on her lightsaber. Her website is completely down--downloads and all--and there is a message on the index page noting that the book will be pulled from "book distribution channels" on "Tuesday, April 24, 2006."

(Incidentally, April 24 is a MONDAY, but we already knew we weren't dealing with a genius here.)

Now, it just remains to be seen whether this will be enough to appease LFL's wrath... - 4/22

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Yes, I'm supposed to be completely out of sight for the next month or so, and I'll go back to that once this post is up. But this kind of sheer, near-unprecedented idiocy (hat tip: snarkel) deserves to be publicized (and slammed) to the far reaches of the Internet.

So--take one Star Wars fanfic writer. Call her, say...Lori Jareo. She writes an AU of the first Star Wars movie. Just to make sure there's no doubt as to what she's altering, she gives the AU the title, "Another Hope."

Now, that's all good and fine. That's what fanfic's all about.

What's NOT good and fine is SELLING THE FANFIC ON AMAZON.COM.

(Further compounding the stupidity--in spite of trying to get people to pay $20 apiece for this thing, she also has it available for free download as a .pdf file.)

Then, there's the author interview, which contains (among other things) this "you have to see it to believe it" sequence:

Q: Having set Another Hope in an already existing universe, I find myself wondering if there was any concern on your part regarding copyrights?

No, because I wrote this book for myself. This is a self-published story and is not a commercial book. Yes, it is for sale on Amazon, but only my family, friends and acquaintances know it’s there.

Q: I also wonder how far a writer is allowed to write in a world and to use characters introduced by another author?

If it’s not a commercial project, I don’t see any problem. George Lucas’ Star Wars universe is fertile territory for so-names “infinities,” or alternate storyline material. Thousands of people write them, and they are posted on hundreds of unofficial Star Wars-themed web sites on the Internet. Lucas himself said that as long as no one is making a profit, he thought such tributes were wonderful.

I'm not sure what's most incredible about this--that she thinks selling the fic on Amazon.com isn't making a profit, that she thought an Amazon.com listing would (or, for that matter, could) stay private, or that, in spite of being a full-time editor, she has such a warped view of copyright!

Bottom-line, most pessimistic outlook: fanfic exists solely on the forebearance of the copyright holders. She's using the existence of Star Wars fanfic to try and justify her own blatant violation of copyright, and I am very much afraid that LFL will respond not only by stomping her, but by going after SW fanfic as a whole, so that no one else is tempted to try and use the same excuse.

OK, I'm done. I'll see you all on May 19.

Current Mood: nauseated

The links to the fanfic author's website no longer works. However, the fanfic itself is apparently available here-- until April 24, anyways.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-04-23 12:32am

Thats fucked up stupid.

bilateralrope · Post by **bilateralrope** » 2006-04-23 12:54am

From the Amazon reviews, not only is this breaking copyright laws, its also horribly bad (I wasn't expecting it to be good, since the author is stupid).

But how valid are the fears about people clamping down on fanfics befause of this ?

mr friendly guy · Post by **mr friendly guy** » 2006-04-23 05:40am

amazon reviewer wrote:Not only is this thing illegal, it's awful. About half way through it, Luke gets killed of, and is replaced with a Mary-Sue. And the rest is just some of the most boring techno babble I've ever read!

If this is the extent of her writing, then I can see this won't get far, except maybe on Godawful fan fiction.

Kevin D. Killiany wrote:As a professional writer in the field of media tie-in fiction (Star Trek, MechWarrior) I am shocked and appalled that this book is available on Amazon. What the author has done is use a publishing company she owns to produce an illegal book.

That explains how she managed to convince a publishing company to do it.

Seriously, what was the author thinking publishing this in blatant violation of copyright.

Sharp-kun · Post by **Sharp-kun** » 2006-04-23 10:11am

The stupid burns.

Singular Quartet · Post by **Singular Quartet** » 2006-04-23 10:27am

Sharp-kun wrote:The stupid burns.

The reviews on Amazon already covered that.

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-04-23 01:30pm

I am so ordering that to say I have a illegal book.

felineki · Post by **felineki** » 2006-04-23 05:01pm

If she wanted to sell crappy SW fanfic, she could have at least gone through the standard channels to becoming an EU writer.

CERC · Post by **CERC** » 2006-04-23 05:04pm

I'm just mind boggled that someone is that stupid... but then again as the thread notes, she does deserve a Darwin Award.....

CERC

Singular Quartet · Post by **Singular Quartet** » 2006-04-23 05:56pm

Well... that gets me thinking: In order for her to be eligable for a Darwin Award, she has to be removed from the breeding pool. Thus, we must start a petition that when Lucasbooks sues her stupid face, they also take away her ovaries.

We just ask that they don't take away our need to fic.

Jason von Evil · Post by **Jason von Evil** » 2006-04-23 10:26pm

felineki wrote:If she wanted to sell crappy SW fanfic, she could have at least gone through the standard channels to becoming an EU writer.

FORCE BURN!!!

Stravo should publish StarCrossed.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2006-04-23 10:41pm

Look at the description on the back cover...

"We get a delightful new character, Ryoo Naberrie, a gutsy underling on the Death Star," and, no doubt, the story's Mary Sue.

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-04-25 08:43pm

It arrived! I haven't started reading it yet but it has arrived and I am staring at it now as it sits on my desk.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2006-04-26 02:35am

LongVin wrote:It arrived! I haven't started reading it yet but it has arrived and I am staring at it now as it sits on my desk.

I can't believe you gave that bitch money. What a fucking waste.

bilateralrope · Post by **bilateralrope** » 2006-04-26 05:25am

Darth Fanboy wrote:
LongVin wrote:It arrived! I haven't started reading it yet but it has arrived and I am staring at it now as it sits on my desk.
I can't believe you gave that bitch money. What a fucking waste.

She wont get to keep the money once the lawyers get through with her.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2006-04-26 05:28pm

so lucas isn't getting the money, just the lawyer-balrogs that he hires...

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-04-26 08:19pm

I started reading it. I got about 40 pages in so far. Apparently there are no chapters in the book it just keeps going and the only thing to signify a new part is a double spaced line and a bunch of ******.

She also gave Palpatine some fancy name of Carrollus Janren and claims Palpatine is his "official name" I don't know where she came up with this wild idea.

The new character they introduce is Ryoo Naberrie who is Queen Amidala's neice. And this Ryoo is a "messman" for the Empire. Which apparently just seems to be a Imperial version of the USO. She basically jsut brings cookies and food. The book itself is hazy about the jobs of these messmen. I have no idea why you would have food delivered to other parts of the ship when the crew can just go to a mess hall when they are off duty.

Nor does the book fully explain why Ryoo is on the ship that captures the Tantive IV. It kinda gets hazed over. But apparently Ryoo was posted on the Death Star for the past 2 years despite it being a top secret project she is allowed away from the construction site to play donut dolly.

Also about the Death Star according to said EU author it is built by Kessel and all the parts from the Corellia Drive yards. Once again I have no idea where she came up with this stuff.

Other then that so far it is a carbon copy of ANH except for Luke watching the battle between the SD and the Tantive IV with his macrobinocs. Though she did manage to make Luke every bit as whiny and annoying as official EU writers. I am already rooting that in this Fan Fiction he dies a horrible horrible death.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-04-26 08:59pm

Other then that so far it is a carbon copy of ANH except for Luke watching the battle between the SD and the Tantive IV with his macrobinocs. Though she did manage to make Luke every bit as whiny and annoying as official EU writers. I am already rooting that in this Fan Fiction he dies a horrible horrible death.

I'm pretty sure Luke watching the battle happens in the actual novelization, too.

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-04-26 09:11pm

Noble Ire wrote:
Other then that so far it is a carbon copy of ANH except for Luke watching the battle between the SD and the Tantive IV with his macrobinocs. Though she did manage to make Luke every bit as whiny and annoying as official EU writers. I am already rooting that in this Fan Fiction he dies a horrible horrible death.
I'm pretty sure Luke watching the battle happens in the actual novelization, too.

Ah. I haven't read the novel of ANH in awhile so then if thats the case its an exact carbon copy of ANH.

JediMaster415 · Post by **JediMaster415** » 2006-04-26 09:17pm

Yeah, he watches it in the novelization. I think it was supposed to be in the movie too but got cut.

People like this make it hard for fanfic writers to post. Everyone will be expecting everyone else to do this now.

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-04-26 09:26pm

Alrighty then.

I am seriously going to force myself to read through this entire book its only about 220 pages. So far except for the weird ideas the author has its not that painful of a read yet, though the no chapters thing is annoying.

Apparently though from the back cover of the book it appears that Ryoo begins working for the rebellion. SHOCKER!

Duckie · Post by **Duckie** » 2006-04-26 10:17pm

Oh noes, she could like... I dunno... spit in the food or something.

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-04-26 10:19pm

MRDOD wrote:Oh noes, she could like... I dunno... spit in the food or something.

lol. so far from her job description I think thats all she can do, unless the author introduces some BS to somehow give her clearance to wander the Death Star at will entering into restricted areas then allow her to leave with information under her arm.

Sonnenburg · Post by **Sonnenburg** » 2006-04-26 10:31pm

MRDOD wrote:Oh noes, she could like... I dunno... spit in the food or something.

She replaces Tarkin's Beano with garlic.

"I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board."

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-04-29 12:07am

I just read another 80 pages and it is no longer a carbon copy of ANH. I'll start with the most minor and annoying changes firsts before moving on to major ones.

First off for some reason instead of using Tarkin's official name Wilhulf she comes up with some weird first name of Tian.

Also Chewie now has blue eyes when I'm pretty sure in the movies they were brown.

When the Sandpeople are about to kill Luke when he is in the wastes looking for R2 for some reason the author thinks the sandpeople are going to take his equipment, bring it town and sell it. Once again I seriously don't understand how she came up with this since from all accounts in the movies, novelizations and EU sandpeople are basically shot on sight.

Next is the fact that Ryoo Naberrie is back on the Death Star serving Imperial Officers their meals when Admiral Motti recognizes her last name and accuses of her being a traitor and then sentencing her to death on the spot. Yep apparently on the planet of Naboo with billions of inhabitants anyone with the name Naberrie must be related to Queen Amidala and is a traitor to the Empire.

It also appears Ryoo has a bunch of stuff Padme and Anakin left behind on Naboo including an old datapad and just so happens a spare lightsabre. Yep apparently Anakin just left a lightsabre on Naboo when he left to rescue Obi Wan. While confined to her room awaiting execution she manages to hack into the Death Star's computer grid with this old datapad get valuable technical data, then crawl through the vent system and make it to a communications node 6 kilometers away to notify Alderaan.

Speaking of Alderaan Luke and Obi Wan manage to get there before the Death Star and are brought to meet Bail Organa and have the data from R2 decoded. Han Solo gets his money to pay Jabba off and leaves the planet. When the Death Star does arrive in orbit it apparently destroys the planet with Luke, Kenobi, 3P0 and R2 on the surface. So they just died...just like that unless somehow through a plot device they survive through a plot device.