Episode #007: We Need To Talk About J.K Rowling: An Interview with Heidi Tandy AKA Heidi8
We need to talk about J.K. Rowling and what the heck to do now after a lifetime of loving Harry Potter! In this very special episode of I Met You On LJ, Maggie and V interview someone right in the thick of things: FictionAlley creator, OTW volunteer, and intellectual property attorney Heidi Tandy, also known as Heidi8. Tandy has worked on behalf of fandom in fair use and copyright cases for the last two decades, and talks with V and Maggie about early Harry Potter fan conventions, the dark ages of FanFiction.net, and what to do now that J.K. Rowling has revealed herself to be as dark and twisted as a horcrux.
This Episode Covers…
harry potter • j.k. rowling • intellectual property • fair use • copyright law • fanfiction • fan conventions • @copperbadge • azkatraz • lumos • nimbus 2003 • livejournal • infinitus • sirius black • the peril of spoilers • creator responsibility • death of the author • ao3 • fiction alley • schnoogle • f•r•i•e•n•d•s • organization for transformative works • cockygate • harry potter for grown-ups • yahoo! groups • fanfiction.net
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Show Notes & Resources Under the Cut.
Daniel Radcliffe’s full response to J.K. Rowling for The Trevor Project.
I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself, but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now. While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade, and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment.
Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I. According to The Trevor Project, 78% of transgender and nonbinary youth reported being the subject of discrimination due to their gender identity. It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.
I am still learning how to be a better ally, so if you want to join me in learning more about transgender and nonbinary identities check out The Trevor Project’s Guide to Being an Ally to Transgender and Nonbinary Youth. It’s an introductory educational resource that covers a wide range of topics, including the differences between sex and gender, and shares best practices on how to support transgender and nonbinary people.
To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you. If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred. And in my opinion nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.
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Update on Cockygate 2: 2 Dark 2 Cocky; looks like Christine Feehan has listened. Suzan Tisdale, a fairly big-name indie author, apparently knows her and reached out. Whether Feehan had seen the furore on Twitter is unknown, but apparently she listened to Tisdale and is withdrawing all the ‘single word’ applications.
What happens from here on is unknown; my guess is that she’ll probably file for ‘Dark Carpathians’ and nobody will give a rats because that’s a perfectly fine series name that isn’t going to stop anybody else using either word in their series or book titles. The community will be watching, though.
Hopefully, the fact that even a big-name mainstream author - because whether you’ve read her or not, whether you think her heyday is past or not, go into any library and you’ll almost certainly find Feehan’s books on the shelves - can get hammered over this sort of overly-broad rights grab, will make other authors think twice before spending their money.
If you’re interested to see what sort of things people DO file trademarks for, I suggest you follow cockybot on Twitter. Set up after cockygate to track exactly this sort of thing and warn the community BEFORE the trademark is granted and it costs serious money to fight back, Cockybot is our canary in the coalmine.
As many books are being pulled on Amazon for having cocky on the title, the keywords and even reviews are being erased for having the word, how about we reclaim our time word in one of the spaces we still can?
is anyone up for a fanfiction cocky week in protest/solidarity with the romance world? any fandom, any pairing, any rating, just post fics with Cocky on the title?
A few weeks ago, I did a thing. A stupid thing. An unintelligent thing. But a thing regardless.
I read Faleena Hopkins, the author infamous for perpetuating the travesty known as Cockygate, book You Don’t Know Me.
It was bad.
Really Bad.
How bad you ask? It took me multiple posts to get through the bad. So to save you from having to go look for them all. I’ve assembled a handy-dandy post with all the links for your viewing pleasure.
The bad decision.
My thoughts while reading:
Post 1
Post 2
The never-ending ranty review of doom!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
And now that I’ve made this post, I never have to think of this again!
OMG so apparently a romance author fucking SUCCEEDED in trademarking the word “cocky” in reference to titles of a romance novel series. How the hell that happened, I have no idea. But now she’s been reporting a bunch of Amazon titles for including the word and sending bizarro emails (herself btw not from a lawyer) to the authors threatening legal action.
And per law, Amazon has been taking down the books. She’s managed to basically temporarily shut down her competition but holy hell she’s going to get sued five ways to sunday for this. Idk how she ever thought this would end well.
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#Cockygate went to court and the judge denied the TRO and ordered Faleena to pay court costs and $5k to the defendants. Said that readers are familiar with romance and wording and that the trademark was weak at best.
So what I'm getting is--authors can still use Cocky (win for the author sued and the anthology Cocktales) but the TM hasn't been overturned (yet).
And I'm still over here giggling that they got up in a court of law and argued over the word Cocky. And that the suit was brought by someone calling their company Hop Hop Productions.
how is that NOT funny??
More info here https://twitter.com/eunapark/status/1002595231651557377?s=19
A romance author has trademarked the word "cocky" and filed for an injunction against other authors using the word in their titles. Here's what the judge had to say in the latest episode of #cockygate.
For anyone who doesn’t want to read through court transcripts to find the funny bits, here’s a solid summary.
I am so excited to announce that the anthology I was lucky enough to contribute to is now available on Amazon, as well as Kobo, and Apple formats! The Amazon link is right here! I am so happy to be in such good company in this collection, and I’m happy to announce that the expanded version of my story will be available for purchase next week!
If you pick up a copy, please, please leave a review. All proceeds will go to a great cause! And I can’t wait to hear what you all think about Karen, Beth, and Carlos (and Lulu, too!)
