News Of The Day
Monday, 27 February 2006 22:22![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apollaDa Vinci Code 'copied book ideas'
A few things: British copyright law is not like the US version. Copyright exists as soon as something is created, be it a book, a painting, a song or whatever. I own the copyright in this post as soon as I post it, and I do not have to register the copyright.
Secondly, you cannot copyright ideas. Many people have many ideas every day and most will get lost in the ether. However, with so many people having so many ideas, a lot of them will seem eerily familar. You don't need to be told this, given that all of you are paid up members of at least one fandom. How many people have had 'Hermione Gets Kidnapped OMG!' ideas independently of each other? How many people come up with the same ships without ever speaking to each other or otherwise communicating?
Now, I must make the following clear: I have not read The Da Vinci Code or The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. I have watched the trailer for the film of The Da Vinci Code and have had some of the basic premise explained to me by my dad, who is a big fan of the book. Therefore I have no particular knowledge of either book beyond something to do with the Catholic Church being secretive. And I already knew that.
Now, from what I've gathered from the news, the claim is thus:
HBHG involves Jesus not dying on the Cross.... DVC involves Jesus not being crucified.... Am I alone in thinking this is not the same thing?
Both involve a storyline where Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children and the line continues to this day.
From what I can gather, HBHG is non-fiction and DVC is In A Cinema Near You Soon. Now, my point is thus:
Are we supposed to believe that the authors of HBHG are the only people to come up with a 'Jesus didn't die' theory? Moreover, are we supposed to believe that they're the only people to come up with a 'Jesus marries Mary Magdalene' theory? Cos it sounds like an obvious sort of thing to me... practically fanficish in its obviousness and lack of being able to be written well.
So I ask this: What exactly is the problem? If the claimants are correct and the entire concept has been stolen... there is a line that can be crossed where a few shared ideas becomes a stolen plot... there are people on my flist who know this all too well... but as it stands, I don't see the problem, because although I'm sure a lot of people think it's very unique and original, the idea of Jesus not dying, getting married and having kids is not exactly a stretch. It's fanfic.
And the idea of a line of Jesus' descendants has cropped up before. They were great-great-etc-grand nieces rather than children... but can we say Dogma, children?
*
George Michael Got Arrested For Drugs.
I presume we're supposed to be 'shocked' at this? George has spoken openly tons of times about his love of marijuana. He sold a record on the back of stories about smoking something like twenty-five joints a day when in mourning for a boyfriend/friend who died of AIDS or something. We know he's a fuckwit when it comes to the law, and so does he it would appear. However... how fucked up must the old boy be to end up slumped at the wheel of his car? What the frell was going on? There's something not quite right about the whole thing.
*
David Beckham admits his son's homework baffles him.
This, because we are a nation entirely enthralled by Becks, has become big news. Some are saying it's proof he's thick and others are like "what's the fuss?"... to which I say: HELLO!?!?! Even if he was a genius, he'd still have issues with the kids' homework, cos that's how it goes for parents! Now, I grant you that Brooklyn is only six years old, but if you've not needed to dick about with any sort of maths since you were a kid (DB's about thirty, so we're talking at least twelve years ago... and this is a bloke who started with Man Utd at 14)... you would find maths questions a challenge. Nobody THINKS like that once they leave. I was only good at equations in maths, because it was essentially just moving stuff from one side to the other... and I couldn't do an equation now if you sat me down with Carol Vorderman, a scientific calcuator and KITT from Knightrider!
More than that, so what anyway? We know David Beckham's not Wordsworth or Steven Hawking or Thomas Macaulay... and why the fuck should he be? He's a footballer, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Aside from anything he may or may not have done with Rebecca Loos, he ultimately seems like a decent bloke and nobody can really slag off David or Victoria for their parental skills (let's wait until the kids grow up and start hanging out with Paris, Calum and the rest at the Met Bar or Chinawhite)... He's a footballer and a hero, and that's not a bad thing. There are worse heroes to have. You know the thing? He's never pretended to be clever. He knows he can bend it like, well, him and what else does he really ned to do?
Win the World Cup, obviously. Do that Dave, and the sainthood's in the post. Convert and I'll nominate you for Pope meself.
*
Daniel Craig is having more Bond issues: apparently he can't drive a manual/stick shift car and so can't do the Aston. So just to summarise:
-It took them ages to get a Bond Girl to play Vesper and the obviously beautiful stars of Hollywood all turned it down and made remarks, so the rumour goes, involving a ten foot barge pole.
-He managed to have a bunch of teeth knocked out during his first filmed fight.
-He can't drive James Bond's car.
-He's blond.
-He's Daniel Craig and what were they thinking?
*
Plans are underway for this year's Clare's Annual Online Oscar Party.... is Y! doing chat these days? If not, where can we go?
*
A couple of Dave Allen jokes before I go:
They say that if an Irishman is blessed with the ability to talk, he's kissed the Blarney. They say if an Englishman is blessed with the ability to talk, he's a politician. They say if a Scotsman is blessed with the ability to talk, he's sober.
*
Many people think that Heaven and Hell are on different levels. They're not. They are side by side, separated by a fence. A wooden fence. One day, God was walking around the area and he started to inspect the fence. It was falling down. All bits and pieces had hallen off it. So he calls out to the Devel over the fence:
"Excuse me, Mr Mephistopheles! Hey, NICK!"
The Devil yells: "Whadderyerwant?"
God says: "The fence. Look at it. It's falling down, it needs repairing, and the posts are on your side. This fence is your responsibility. When are you going to fix it?"
The Devil say: "Ah, screw you!"
God says: "Now, listen: if you do not do something about this fence very soon, you are going to hear from my solicitor!"
The Devil says: "Where are YOU going to find a solicitor?"
*
A last one:
If you can't laugh at yourself, what's the point? For example, here's a joke: Two Irish fellas leave Dublin to go to work in London. The collective IQ of Dublin halves overnight. (as I've said, you've got to be able to laugh at yourself, haven't you?) When the two get to London, the collective IQ there doubles overnight. (I thought we agreed you're supposed to be able to laugh at yourself?"
A few things: British copyright law is not like the US version. Copyright exists as soon as something is created, be it a book, a painting, a song or whatever. I own the copyright in this post as soon as I post it, and I do not have to register the copyright.
Secondly, you cannot copyright ideas. Many people have many ideas every day and most will get lost in the ether. However, with so many people having so many ideas, a lot of them will seem eerily familar. You don't need to be told this, given that all of you are paid up members of at least one fandom. How many people have had 'Hermione Gets Kidnapped OMG!' ideas independently of each other? How many people come up with the same ships without ever speaking to each other or otherwise communicating?
Now, I must make the following clear: I have not read The Da Vinci Code or The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. I have watched the trailer for the film of The Da Vinci Code and have had some of the basic premise explained to me by my dad, who is a big fan of the book. Therefore I have no particular knowledge of either book beyond something to do with the Catholic Church being secretive. And I already knew that.
Now, from what I've gathered from the news, the claim is thus:
HBHG involves Jesus not dying on the Cross.... DVC involves Jesus not being crucified.... Am I alone in thinking this is not the same thing?
Both involve a storyline where Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children and the line continues to this day.
From what I can gather, HBHG is non-fiction and DVC is In A Cinema Near You Soon. Now, my point is thus:
Are we supposed to believe that the authors of HBHG are the only people to come up with a 'Jesus didn't die' theory? Moreover, are we supposed to believe that they're the only people to come up with a 'Jesus marries Mary Magdalene' theory? Cos it sounds like an obvious sort of thing to me... practically fanficish in its obviousness and lack of being able to be written well.
So I ask this: What exactly is the problem? If the claimants are correct and the entire concept has been stolen... there is a line that can be crossed where a few shared ideas becomes a stolen plot... there are people on my flist who know this all too well... but as it stands, I don't see the problem, because although I'm sure a lot of people think it's very unique and original, the idea of Jesus not dying, getting married and having kids is not exactly a stretch. It's fanfic.
And the idea of a line of Jesus' descendants has cropped up before. They were great-great-etc-grand nieces rather than children... but can we say Dogma, children?
*
George Michael Got Arrested For Drugs.
I presume we're supposed to be 'shocked' at this? George has spoken openly tons of times about his love of marijuana. He sold a record on the back of stories about smoking something like twenty-five joints a day when in mourning for a boyfriend/friend who died of AIDS or something. We know he's a fuckwit when it comes to the law, and so does he it would appear. However... how fucked up must the old boy be to end up slumped at the wheel of his car? What the frell was going on? There's something not quite right about the whole thing.
*
David Beckham admits his son's homework baffles him.
This, because we are a nation entirely enthralled by Becks, has become big news. Some are saying it's proof he's thick and others are like "what's the fuss?"... to which I say: HELLO!?!?! Even if he was a genius, he'd still have issues with the kids' homework, cos that's how it goes for parents! Now, I grant you that Brooklyn is only six years old, but if you've not needed to dick about with any sort of maths since you were a kid (DB's about thirty, so we're talking at least twelve years ago... and this is a bloke who started with Man Utd at 14)... you would find maths questions a challenge. Nobody THINKS like that once they leave. I was only good at equations in maths, because it was essentially just moving stuff from one side to the other... and I couldn't do an equation now if you sat me down with Carol Vorderman, a scientific calcuator and KITT from Knightrider!
More than that, so what anyway? We know David Beckham's not Wordsworth or Steven Hawking or Thomas Macaulay... and why the fuck should he be? He's a footballer, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Aside from anything he may or may not have done with Rebecca Loos, he ultimately seems like a decent bloke and nobody can really slag off David or Victoria for their parental skills (let's wait until the kids grow up and start hanging out with Paris, Calum and the rest at the Met Bar or Chinawhite)... He's a footballer and a hero, and that's not a bad thing. There are worse heroes to have. You know the thing? He's never pretended to be clever. He knows he can bend it like, well, him and what else does he really ned to do?
Win the World Cup, obviously. Do that Dave, and the sainthood's in the post. Convert and I'll nominate you for Pope meself.
*
Daniel Craig is having more Bond issues: apparently he can't drive a manual/stick shift car and so can't do the Aston. So just to summarise:
-It took them ages to get a Bond Girl to play Vesper and the obviously beautiful stars of Hollywood all turned it down and made remarks, so the rumour goes, involving a ten foot barge pole.
-He managed to have a bunch of teeth knocked out during his first filmed fight.
-He can't drive James Bond's car.
-He's blond.
-He's Daniel Craig and what were they thinking?
*
Plans are underway for this year's Clare's Annual Online Oscar Party.... is Y! doing chat these days? If not, where can we go?
*
A couple of Dave Allen jokes before I go:
They say that if an Irishman is blessed with the ability to talk, he's kissed the Blarney. They say if an Englishman is blessed with the ability to talk, he's a politician. They say if a Scotsman is blessed with the ability to talk, he's sober.
*
Many people think that Heaven and Hell are on different levels. They're not. They are side by side, separated by a fence. A wooden fence. One day, God was walking around the area and he started to inspect the fence. It was falling down. All bits and pieces had hallen off it. So he calls out to the Devel over the fence:
"Excuse me, Mr Mephistopheles! Hey, NICK!"
The Devil yells: "Whadderyerwant?"
God says: "The fence. Look at it. It's falling down, it needs repairing, and the posts are on your side. This fence is your responsibility. When are you going to fix it?"
The Devil say: "Ah, screw you!"
God says: "Now, listen: if you do not do something about this fence very soon, you are going to hear from my solicitor!"
The Devil says: "Where are YOU going to find a solicitor?"
*
A last one:
If you can't laugh at yourself, what's the point? For example, here's a joke: Two Irish fellas leave Dublin to go to work in London. The collective IQ of Dublin halves overnight. (as I've said, you've got to be able to laugh at yourself, haven't you?) When the two get to London, the collective IQ there doubles overnight. (I thought we agreed you're supposed to be able to laugh at yourself?"
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-28 00:50 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-28 05:43 (UTC)Just resurrected myself from the morass known as "RL" and decided to look around... and as usual, found myself enjoying your extremely pithy remarks. :D
A few thoughts about the "Da Vinci Code" controversy.
I've read both books ("Holy Blood, Holy Grail" some 10 or 15 years ago and "Da Vinci Code" when the latter came out). I think the key issue that the HBHG authors have is not about the "Jesus did not die on the cross, married Mary Magdalene and there are descendants living amongst us" concept, but something else.
HBHG is actually a conspiracy theory which springs from the whole Jesus married Mary Magdalene concept; specifically, that there is a secret organization (called the Priory of Sion, if I remember correctly) that has been headed, at various times, by some of the most brilliant minds in history--Leonardo da Vinci among them.
The secret organization's task in life was to defend and protect the descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene against the shennanigans of the Church.
The problem with this book (aside from the fact that it was a dry, rather *boring* piece of writing) is that the authors never explained *why* the Church had the hots for the Jesus/Magdalene descendants, to the point of vendetta and extermination. They simply laid out the hypothesis (Church vs. Jesus/Magdalene descendants and their followers) and quoted chapter, verse and various intriguing things to support their thesis.
Dan Brown, on the other hand, seems to have borrowed that basic concept (secret organization defending the descendants) and added his own ideas and thoughts to the mix. Most especially, his own 'view' on *why* the Church was looking to exterminate the descendants, or even the very idea of Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene: politics and domination.
Specifically, "male" domination of the feminine life-force (or something like that). Brown's 'thesis' is that the male-dominated Church (or the woman-hating early Church (male) elders didn't want anyone else challenging their perceived role as the 'leader' of the Church, which led to the eventual downgrading of Mary Magdalene from being Jesus' partner (or should I say 'soulmate' ;) ) into the current misimpression of her as a whore, a hanger-on, etc.
From one angle, the HBHG authors may have a point: Dan Brown could have co-opted their 'conspiracy theory' and created something out of it. On the other hand, Dan Brown *did* create something totally different from their original work. As I said, the HBHG authors posited the existence of the secret organization but did not explain *why* it existed; Dan Brown's ideas, on the other hand, provides an explanation of *why*.
I think the interesting thing (from a 'legal' perspective) will boil down to the 'ownership' of an original idea (e.g., the secret organization). The thing is, however, Dan Brown has never 'hidden' the fact that HBHG is a source of inspiration for DVC, although most people focus on the Jesus/Magdalene connection rather than the conspiracy angle.
And it is the latter point where I think Mr. Brown is gonna be out of luck: the HBHG authors can claim that the secret organization/conspiracy theory is their *original* idea, and Mr. Brown took it, expanded it--and made a lot of money out of it.
Which they (the HBHG authors) are going to try and get a slice of.
In the end, it is all about money.
BTW, you *should* read DVC. It's an interesting read and can be rather thought-provoking, especially with the discussions on the feminine imperative, issues on male chauvinism and domination, etc., etc.
But then again, maybe it's just me-- I've long admitted to being 'whipped' as far as my wife is concerned. ;)
*HUGS*
gil
no subject
Date: 2006-03-04 23:47 (UTC)Anyways...I agree with everything you've said about The Da Vinci Code. I haven't read the other book so I can't say I know everything. But I mean really, Dan Brown has written a piece of fiction. It's ideas he's put together to make a story. He might have heard about HBHG...but can those authors seriously say they are the ONLY ones to have that idea? I find it completely crazy, but that's just me. And hello...the book has made their book into a best seller simply because people want to read the non-fiction aspect of these theories. HBHG is being checked out like mad at the libraries I work at.
Daniel Craig...Enough said I think.