PublishAmerica author sues Stephen King for plagiarism

Ink-Stained Wretch

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Both novels use information from a library or librarian that
originated from old newspapers to convey historical tragic news of
multiple deaths (Keller’s Den page 210, Miami Herald -- Duma
Key pages 135, 200, Tampa newspaper). Additionally, both stories made the headlines.

Does this fool actually think his circa-2002 slushpile offering was the first-ever example of that trope? Not to mention the implication "A crapload of people all dying at once wouldn't ordinarily make the headlines in whatever local paper covered it."

Both novels use the following in regards to the old ladies: Keller’s
Den is Old Lady Baxter (pages 89, 91), while Duma Key is Ole
Miss Elizabeth (page 120).

Same question; I'd bet my entire savings account you can find examples of an old lady called "Old Lady Lastname" or "Ole Miss Firstname" well before Rod vomited his literary genius onto the world.

Mrs. Baxter has a roadmap of creases on her skin in Keller’s Den
(page 89). Edgar has a roadmap of scars on his skin in Duma Key
(page 581).

Okay, that makes sense -- surely Stephen King would never have thought to scar an accident victim without first reading Rod's description of some old lady whose skin has lost its youthful tautness.

The black sari in Keller’s Den (pages 86, 87, 119, 142, 212, 238,
240) equates to the red cloak and robe in Duma Key (pages 68, 74,
159, 265, 326, 367, 430, 467, 471 565, 580). They are both
referenced to the curse and are worn by females.

Yeah, the idea that a given article of clothing might be cursed NEVER appeared before 2002. And as for the idea that females might wear such cursed garments -- never!

Both novels have a secondary character that is diagnosed
with “chemical imbalance.” (Keller’s Den, pages 101, 133 – Duma
Key, page 378).

Serve Rod right if Kurt Vonnegut's estate sued him for stealing that idea from Breakfast of Champions.

Both novels reference younger days of a character that went to
church on Sunday (Keller’s Den, page 193 -- Duma Key, page 560).

A novel set in America with a character who remembers being dragged to church on Sundays as a kid? That SOB Rod plagiarized my own life.

In reference to other people looking at each of the main character’s
paintings or drawings:
In Keller’s Den (page 39), Martin asks Janet, “What do you
think?”
In Duma Key (page 73), Edgar asks Ilse, “What do you think?”
In Duma Key (page 166), Edgar asks Jack, “What do you
think?”

Mmm hmm. Next time anyone says "I love you" in a novel, I am so going to sue that author for plagiarism.
 

Gillhoughly

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cursed garments --
I had a "cursed shirt" once. It was red with a print of angry Bugs Bunnys all over it.

No really, that WB print did exist. I loved that shirt.

But EVERY time I wore it I'd have a terrible day full of unnaturally bad luck. It was weird. I finally twigged that wearing the shirt meant disasters, large and small, and threw it out before things got worse.

I stopped reading King after Christine, so I don't know the level of mayhem involved for the cursed garments of this kerfuffle.
 
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circlexranch

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The funny thing is that I find Duma Key to one of Big Steve's lesser works. When I sue him for plagiarism (because that's what all frustrated writers do!) I plan on saying he stole the idea for something really epic, like The Stand, from me.

Funny thing is that writers sample and borrow from King early and often (just like The Dark Tower series calls back to LOTR over and over again). Whether you like his stuff or not, he is one of the legendary storytellers of our time. I think if someone took one of his tropes (not copied his stuff, just used the tropes), reworked it, expanded it, and went on to monster stardom, King would be the first one to shake the writer's hand after they received their Stoker award.

This suit is pettiness of epic proportions . . . A cheap grab at a payday. These suits are often filed in hopes of a quick settlement. Well, the proverbial line in the sand has been drawn and Ms. McNamara plans on using it as a mass grave for the plaintiffs.
 

Cyia

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LoL, the roadmap thing made me laugh. One of the few parts of Harry Potter I'm familiar with, because it's in the 1st chapter online:

Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone said:
Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.

Maybe JKR should counter sue ;)
 

circlexranch

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Thank y'all for the shout outs. I enjoy, not only talking about cases like this, but also spreading some education to the writing community. The docs are public record, but you have to register with the system and pay for the download. No need for everyone to incur the charges. It just goes on my account.

However, if you do appreciate the play-by-play, please consider checking out this thread

"Atlanta Nights - The Movie"

and dropping a couple of dollars as a donation. I firmly believe that if this writer had not been caught in PA's clutches and been puffed up to believe his book was going to be a runaway best-seller, then this frivolous case wouldn't be in the court system. So, anything that goes toward exposing PA for the fraud it is benefits everyone.
 

Kateness

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None of the attorneys I work for do anything like this sort of thing, so it's been really cool to hear you talk about it...I really enjoy learning new things about the law, given that in a couple of years, law school might be in my future.
 

James D. Macdonald

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This suit is pettiness of epic proportions . . . A cheap grab at a payday.

I'm not sure of that.

Often, people who are unused to having ideas believe that the only way others can get ideas is to buy them or steal them.

These are the people who come up to writers and say, "I have a great idea for a book! You write it and we'll split the money!" These are the people who offer their manuscripts on ebay, hoping that King or Grisham or Rowling will bid on the book, and put their name on it, to relieve themselves of the tedium of writing their own best-sellers.

They have seen a shadow of the Muse, but dimly, through the ripples, like a fish hiding at the bottom of a stream. They do not realize that for creative folks ideas are all around, swimming past in vast schools, and the main difficulty is in grabbing just one when the time comes.
 

circlexranch

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Uncle Jim, you are right about the writer. I was thinking more of the lawyer. I faced a lawyer much like this one and all he cared about was trying to force an overpriced settlement. He offered to sell me one of my own trademarks for $7000.
 

pangalactic

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This whole thread makes me wish I'd gone on to study law, rather than dropping out of university and going to work in a chocolate shop like I actually did :Shrug:
 

Alphabeter

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Yes, how dare you do something you like instead of going to law school and becoming the AW lawyer. I'm suing you for loss of consortium.

You will buy a copy of my lawsuit from PA's bookstore ... because its the only place it might exist. ;)
 

Ink-Stained Wretch

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I'm not sure of that.

Often, people who are unused to having ideas believe that the only way others can get ideas is to buy them or steal them.

These are the people who come up to writers and say, "I have a great idea for a book! You write it and we'll split the money!" These are the people who offer their manuscripts on ebay, hoping that King or Grisham or Rowling will bid on the book, and put their name on it, to relieve themselves of the tedium of writing their own best-sellers.

They have seen a shadow of the Muse, but dimly, through the ripples, like a fish hiding at the bottom of a stream. They do not realize that for creative folks ideas are all around, swimming past in vast schools, and the main difficulty is in grabbing just one when the time comes.

Wow. If ever you decide to quit the writing thing, you'd make an awesome diplomat. I, however, would not, so I will undiplomatically add: "Never underestimate the power of stupidity and self-delusion."

I mentioned this once before, somewhere on this board, but: I used to be the fluff-piece writer for a truly horrible daily newspaper, and one of my tasks was, whenever anybody who lived in our readership zone called to say "Hey, I published a book!" I had to read (or at least skim through) it, interview the author and write a story on the theme "Local Person Makes Good."

In all my time there, I only remember two authors who got actual publication deals. The rest were all self-published. XLibris, AuthorHouse, Eloquent Books ... of course, I'm sure those companies have published some genuinely talented, or at least competent, writers who were merely naive about how publishing works. Unfortunately, those weren't the writers whose books I had to read. Most would have received a failing grade from me when I taught high school; these people didn't even know elementary-level writing rules like "Start a new paragraph when a new person speaks" or "Cities, states and countries are proper nouns and always capitalized."

But even if they had an editor clean up their work, it was simply, purely horrible. I frequently tried to talk my editor out of his "Any book gets a byline" policy, not for my sake but for the authors' sakes, to spare them the embarrassment of exposure. I'm thinking particularly of the young sci-fi author whose book had a rambling, ten-page dedication filled with sentences like "This book is also dedicated to all the people in high school who made fun of me and said my dreams of being a writer were stupid and I'm glad they did because it gave me the strength to pursue my dreams it's also dedicated to all the heroes who died on 9/11." Only with half the words misspelled. This ignoramus also didn't realize sound won't travel through the vacuum of space, so all the space-battle scenes included sentences like "The crew fired their lasers at the space cruiser and when it exploded they all heard a big loud BOOM which lasted for more than ten seconds."

And of course, he expected to make his living as a writer, thought his book would make a great movie, and figured some studio exec would call to buy the movie rights any day now. I will not be remotely surprised if a few years from now, he tries to sue some successful sci-fi author for plagiarism. "In my book, aliens invaded Earth; the successful sci-fi author stole my idea! My book takes place in the future; so does his!" And he won't be doing it as a money grab, but from the sincere belief he was robbed.
 

Blake M. Petit

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Y'know, I had to read those "local author" books when I was a newspaper editor too. Including the latest work of a woman who had made the transition from bodice rippers to cozy mysteries. Not casting aspersions on either genre, but I thought the book was terrible -- not just that it wasn't my style, but it was objectively bad, poorly written and a chore to read.

That was a fun interview.
 

Ink-Stained Wretch

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Y'know, I had to read those "local author" books when I was a newspaper editor too. Including the latest work of a woman who had made the transition from bodice rippers to cozy mysteries. Not casting aspersions on either genre, but I thought the book was terrible -- not just that it wasn't my style, but it was objectively bad, poorly written and a chore to read.

Did the authors often have the near-pathological inability to know which details are worth sharing and which can be skimmed over? I've had writers who'd spend an entire chapter talking about things a real writer would dismiss in a sentence or two.

REAL WRITER: "He checked into a roadside motel and arranged for a seven a.m. wake-up call. Early next morning, he was back on the road advancing the plot (such as it was)."

MY WRITERS: "He saw a motel by the side of the road and pulled into the parking lot which had diagonal spaces and parked in a spot three spaces down from the lobby door, and shifted his car's gear from 'drive' to 'park' before reaching out with his right hand to turn off the engine and extract the keys from their slot on the steering column just under the steering wheel. He put his keys in his pocket and then reached out with his left hand and opened the driver's-side door and got out of the car and shut the door behind him. He started walking toward the lobby and then hit himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand and said 'Oops, I forgot my luggage!' So he turned around and walked back to his car and reached into his pocket with his right hand and took out his keys and inserted the key into the trunk lock and turned it until the trunk popped open and then he reached out with his left hand and grabbed the handle of his luggage which was made of brown leather and then ...."

I always had to resist the temptation to pull the writers' legs: "Remember that really exciting 'check into a motel' scene? I had a hard time visualizing what happened because, when the hero slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand, you forgot to say which hand he used. Was it his right? Was it his left? Did he maybe have a third arm? This is very important; your readers need to know."

It's like they suffer from the literary equivalent of anorexia. The latter, as I understand it, is not merely an eating disorder, but has a delusional/hallucinatory component to it: you've got someone literally starving to death, ribs all visible, kneecaps wider than her thighs ... yet somehow, when she sees this walking skeleton in a mirror, her mind interprets the image as the exact opposite of what it is: "Behold, a morbidly obese person who needs to lose weight."

But she's not "doing it for attention"; she seriously believes her health problems stem from too much body fat rather than too little. And our Rod here really believes Stephen King stole his wonderful ideas, and when the judge dismisses the lawsuit Rod will convince himself it's because the judge is a biased Stephen King fan, or maybe because King used his vast (and plagiarized!) fortune to bribe the judge.
 
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TMA-1

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Everything is derived from something else, or uses inspiration from something else. It could be other literary works, music, painted art, radio, TV shows, personal experience, and other things. Nothing is ever created in a vacuum. When you write about something, you do create something, but you're likely not the first one to think of that particular idea you just thought up. Even if it's new to you, it's still a product of a mind which itself was shaped by art and life in general. I wonder how often people can find such similarities in two books. I bet Stephen King had no idea about that other book. A lot of the things listed are just silly, and can no doubt be found in many other books and stories as well.
 

RedRose

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That PDF was one of the saddest things I've ever read. Pathetic.

From the PDF: Both novels include prominent elderly ladies with a mysterious past that is significant to the story line.

And they both die of a stroke.

Well that's unusual and so rare, right? An old lady dying of a stroke.

I cannot believe the plaintiff thought he had a case. Delusional much.​
 

circlexranch

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The plaintiff's attorney has asked for an additional 2 weeks and did not give a concrete reason such as being stuck in trial or ill. Also, the plaintiff just threw it into the air and did not consult with the other side. That is a sign of stress. They'll get the extra time. The court expects it and expects the other side to cooperate, at least the first time.

If any of y'all know a fat lady, you might want to let her know she'll have a singing gig sometime this summer.

1. If you've got a case, 30 days is enough time to respond to a motion to dismiss.

2. If you've got a legit reason for an extension (trial calendar, sick kid, etc.) you drop a courtesy call to the other side and ask they join in the motion and indicate that in your motion.

This is a big crack . . . the plaintiff has blinked . . . big time . . .
 

rugcat

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I cannot believe the plaintiff thought he had a case. Delusional much.
Sometimes people with money (and corporations) eventually settle because it ends up costing them more to defend against the suit, in both time and money, than to take it to trial regardless of the merits or outcome.
 

circlexranch

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Yes, they can ask for a second extension, but the reason had better be compelling.

@rugcat - Simon & Schuster will defend this to the death, they can afford it. They will never ever ever settle. First, it would open the floodgates of litigation from every disgrunted wannabe and the lawyer he rode in on. Second, it would cast doubt on one of their money players - Stephen King. Settling would be interpreted as the case having some merit. Third, S&S would open themselves up to accusations that they pub plagarized material. Fourth, they would have to yank Duma Key out of circulation. Fifth, they have a bada$$ in Ms. McNamara and they have to let her stretch her leash occasionally or she might get soft . . . ( :

As the saying goes, "millions for defense but not one penny for tribute."
 

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Yes, they can ask for a second extension, but the reason had better be compelling.

So, like one of those excuses you mentioned above? Trial/sickness/etc.

But I also like what you said earlier about how anyone can answer in 30 days if they have a valid complaint; I've seen it happen in one or two days. :ROFL: