WHAT'S MORE LETHAL THAN VAMPS AND WEREWOLVES?... LAWYERS

[Scott W. Davis]

[I 180w underworld-selenaguns-296 I]With just a couple weeks to go on the "My-God-this-looks-incredibly-cool" horror actioner, UNDERWORLD, Screen Gems has found itself the victim in Hollywood's favorite pastime... legal action.



Sony Pictures, Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment are being sued by multimedia role playing outfit, White Wolf, Inc. and fantasy novelist Nancy A. Collins. The lawsuit mentions no fewer than 17 counts on copyright infringement. The lawsuit also claims that there are, "sixty points of unique similarity between UNDERWORLD and for UNDERWORLD prizes.



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[I 30h underworld I]Rampant plagarism or frivilous lawsuit? Comment on the controversy in our !

[DevilMan]

Let's see, can we say...

"WHITEWOLF is just looking for a piece of the pie!"

-Steve

[zardoz]

The White wolf/Nancy Collins "lawsuit" is complete BS. To prove copyright infringement the plaintive has to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that the defendent deliberately set out to rip off said material, and a chain of evidence is necessary.

Facts against WW/Collins:

Have you ever read any of White Wolf's gaming manuals? They consistently violate permissable use of song lyrics and chunks of material from well-known horror novels. But that's the least of it. Vampire: The Masquerade and their other gaming "concepts" are completely unoriginal and are catalogues of ideas/concepts clearly stolen from any number of books/movies. The fact Anne Rice, Clive Barker, Stephen King, or any number of lesser known genre writers haven't sued this artistically bankrupt company never ceases to amaze me.

Since nothing in the White Wolf "universe" is original, how can they claim Hollywood deliberately stole their "concept"? (Having friends who work in the movie business, I know how artistically bereft Hollywood is when it comes to having original ideas-- cf. Scott's gripe about remakes).

Nancy Collins is a nutbag who has become obsessed with suing people/companies and is convinced she single-handedly "created" just about every vampire concept in books and movies with the exception of Stoker's "Dracula" (cf. her lawsuit against Chaos! Comics, which was thrown out of court and the judge ruled in the favor of Chaos! to counter-sue Collins for libel, slander, and malicious attempts to disrupt/harm that company's business).

Collins's own work is highly derivate and unoriginal, and if I could be bothered I'd list over two dozen incidences where she ripped-off other people's material.

If you want to see a real lawsuit where there is a clear-cut chain of evidence which proves a producer/studio stole from a writer/screenplay, watch what is about to happen over "When Darkness Falls."

[Scott W. Davis]

Thanks for your comments, zardoz, which I think are right on the money. And yes, DM, I do think they want a piece of that Hollywood money. Everyone sues everyone in the entertainment industry anymore.

Anyway, saw this comic strip when I was doing some extra research on the UNDERWORLD soundtrack, a review of which will appear here shortly. Found it on an industrial music board and thought you guys would get a kick out of it. :devil:

http://www.horrorexpress.com/images/20030908l.jpg

[DevilMan]

Yup, that's pretty funny and it's pretty truthful.

I haven't had much exposure to the WHITEWOLF game world myself except for seeing the older tv mini-series, THE KINDRED.

-Steve