I'd say it already is From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of LAR Sent: 29 March 2013 20:29 To: feistfans-l Subject: Re: Discussion with friend about Kelewan
As you mentioned before, Plagarism is a very specific legal term and has a high level of scrutiny to be actionable. All work is derivative to one extent or another, there are only so man scenarios and variation that echo the human condition sufficiently to entice an audience. For me what it comes down to is, how well is it written. Stealing dialogue is to me true plagerism. Utilizing defacto-standards, common themes and plot devices - not so much. My biggest worry about the expanded patent and copyright systems is that they go well beyond protecting IP into crushing innovation On Fri, Mar 29, 2013 at 4:21 PM, Raymond Feist <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: On Mar 29, 2013, at 11:55 AM, "Stroup, Shelley A CIV SWOS N61" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > I actually got to meet Janny Worts thru Goodreads.com, when they were > doing a group read of your work (the first four) and the Kelewan series! > She has a generous spirit and was fully engaged in the reading and > answering peoples questions! So I see your point Ray, it does > dis-credit all yours and Janny's hard work! > > Good thing I never read that kind of "crap" (for lack of a better word)! > > Shells:) > > -- Look, I won't speak ill of Phil Barker. I never met the man, so everything I know about him I got second hand from mutual acquaintances. He seemed to have a particular blindspot and one of his fanboys went off and came up with something ridiculous, like 200+ things they claim I had "copied," from EPT. It's that sort of stupidity that spawns especially now on the internet. Stuff like "low mental planet," which both Phil and I stole from Jack Vance's Big Planet. The intelligent bugs, which as someone else pointed out could have been John Norman. I stole that from Alan Dean Foster. It even got to the point where they went back and started looking at Midkemia Press products and started claiming Steve, Jon, and the rest of the gang had built it "to be used with EPT," which was BS, because we made them "generic" which was 1970s gaming code for 'to be used with Dungeons and Dragons, but we don't want to pay the licensing fees." Anyway, as I said Phil's no longer among the living, nor is Joel,and I've got a 30 years career here where even Phil's most ardent fanboy can't claim Faerie Tale had anything to do with EPT. The last is supposed to be amusing. I think had Phil's books done well, he probably wouldn't have gone so ballistic. Save his most ardent fans who claim their brilliant, there was no audience for them. Don Wolheim, his publisher, and Betsy his editor passed on a third EPT. I think he self-published that one about 10 years ago. Heck, his own publisher told him to stop yapping because there was no basis and it made Phil look bad. He was claiming "plagiarism" even though my book came out 2 years before his book. The general consensus was he was a hell of a game designer, not so much a novelist. Franky, I'm surprised the subject has come up again, as I've not been asked about it in over 15 years. Best, R.E.F. ---- www.crydee.com<http://www.crydee.com> Never attribute to malice what can satisfactorily be explained away by stupidity. -- If you want to take the island, then burn your boats. With absolute commitment come the insights that create real victory. -Tony Robbins
