Written Gems discussion

This thread is for interesting pieces of news or tidbits of history that might interest people who love classic fantasy and science fiction. For example, the story of the day on Wikipedia is about the early days of fantasy and science fiction magazines in the United States. Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, Astounding, the list goes on and on. These magazines were critical to cultivating the fields of science fiction and fantasy in the U.S. today and many of the authors we will be featuring in our Written Gems discussion group on GoodReads published in these pages.

Here's the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...

Here's an interesting article about the many books that came into public domain recently. Tarzan and the Golden Lion is at the top of the list - the first Edgar Rice Burroughs I ever read...

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/ar...

This is a really big deal, Chris, because it means (I think) that authors can now write and publish for money their own Tarzan and Jeeves stories. And I think 5 or 6 John Carter novels are already in the public domain. There was a law suit by Edgar Rice Burroughs' estate against a comic book company (Dynamite?) over their decision to make an unauthorized John Carter comic. (The company made an error and used material from one of the later books if I remember correctly so the estate was on solid footing. Eventually the estate and the company formed a partnership of some sort so the publishing continued.)

But back to my point, do you think that it is "safe" for authors to use these public domain characters?

Gilbert wrote: "This is a really big deal, Chris, because it means (I think) that authors can now write and publish for money their own Tarzan and Jeeves stories. And I think 5 or 6 John Carter novels are already ..."

I believe I read somewhere that the names/places of the original stories are under copyright -- similar to Conan. So publishing houses might be able to get away publishing new, unauthorized editions of the original stories, but any new stories would infringe on the holders of the copyrights (ERB Inc.).

Copyright is what just expired. But I know there was an effort (unsuccessful) to use trademark like you're describing.

Yes, trademarked. But Conan is trademarked, right? What would be the difference?

"Conan" is currently trademarked for "Comic books, magazines and books featuring stories in illustrated form, novels, posters, [ iron-transfers made of paper, ] trading cards, [ stickers, and stationery]"

Search trademarks

We are way out of my expertise here, so take everything I say with a great heaping of salt. But as I understand it, Trademark does not extend copyright. So the novels can definitely be reproduced by other people. The question becomes whether or not the characters can be used. I remember reading that if the copyright law is not extended, non-Disney people will be able to make cartoons with the original look of Mickey Mouse (but not the later one).

I would think that if someone wanted to use Tarzan in a book or movie the estate of ERB would sue them on trademark infringement in the hopes of deterring their behavior and that of other copycats. It's not clear to me if they would win the suit.

On the whole it is probably better to work with the estates if you have a great novel idea involving one of these characters. Not only would there not be a lawsuit then, but presumably it is good publicity to have the blessing of the estate.

I'm just daydreaming about the lotto-unlikely chance that I actually leave a digital estate to my daughter. That makes, you know, money! Let's see, the end of my natural life plus 70 years... that would be around 2424, right?

Gilbert wrote: "We are way out of my expertise here, so take everything I say with a great heaping of salt..."

Agreed even down to the salt bit. They always say consult a lawyer. Well, it's by far cheaper to just email the holder of the trademark/copyright/whatever and ASK and get something in writing. I think what is key is to not assume anything regarding legal matters. Either be firm in your knowledge, or consult a lawyer if you can afford to do so, or contact the trademark holder and ask.

When I wanted to make my Conan stories (Atlas and Old Crem) available, I contacted Cabinet and explained I'd written some fanfic pieces, and asked if they had a problem with me publishing them as free downloads. They granted me permission in writing to do so. Now, if I'd wanted to make a buck on those . . . well, that conversation would have taken an entirely different direction.

When I wrote my sequels to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars stories, I did so by emailing ERB Inc.'s president straight from their Contact Page. I have hopes these may one day see print, thanks to my doing so. Certainly, I'd of been reluctant to have self-published them without seeking permission. While these giant literary foundations can afford a bevy of lawyers, I cannot.

I think I would take a book published by the estate or with the blessing of the estate more seriously than just an indy published work. When you have the blessing of the estate, the implicit message is that the heirs (or ERB in this case) believe your book will enhance the legacy of the original author and that's awesome. Also, I should point out that the couple of ERB estate-published books I've seen look really good!

A bit more information from Wikipedia:

"Even though the copyright on Tarzan of the Apes has expired in the United States, the name Tarzan is still protected as a trademark of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Also, the work remains under copyright in some other countries where copyright terms are longer."

William L. Hahn's blog on World Building is becoming an international sensation with thousands of hits from around the world. It's a peak into the dos and don'ts of establishing your setting and well worth your time. Check it out: https://www.williamlhahn.com/posts/sn...

Chris L. Adams published an article on collecting the works of A. Merritt. You can see the article here: https://dmrbooks.com/test-blog/2019/1...

Gilbert wrote: "William L. Hahn's blog on World Building is becoming an international sensation with thousands of hits from around the world..."

This is a fascinating series! I only wish I'd of read something like this years ago (and that it took root). The next time I read some of my own material I know I'm going to shake my head and start editing...

The Colour out of Space

No, your eyes aren't fooling you. There is a 'U' nestled in that word. Why? Because that is how H. P. Lovecraft spelled it when it was published in 1927. He was fond of older spellings (shew, instead of show) and I always felt these quaint touches set his stories apart from other writers.

I digress.

One of Lovecraft's most famous stories (and one of my own personal favorites), the above mentioned The Colour out of Space, is destined for a theater near you in the near future, brought to you by SpectreVision, with Richard Stanley, and starring ... Nicholas Cage.

I don't know about you, but I always yearn to see the works of my favorite authors come to the big screen. I'm not going to wax negative and go into how they get it wrong all the time. I just don't feel like being that guy today. I'll be happy just to see some of the things I love from this story spring to life in film.

You can read more about this upcoming Lovecraft horror flick at some of your favorite sites:

Gizmodo

Instagram

Consequence of Sound

Indie Wire

Pop Sugar

Collider

The Colour Out of Space is the first Lovecraft story I ever read.

My own introduction to Lovecraft (and what would become a coterie of my favorite authors) was in an old Ace Paperback called The Macabre Reader .

Inside was Lovecraft's The Thing on the Doorstep. Also contained within this cool volume was Robert E. Howard's The Cairn on the Headland and Clark Ashton Smith's The Hunters from Beyond. An excellent selection, and there are others, too boot, in that neat and attractive little anthology.

I gotta admit The Colour Out of Space hitting the big screen sounds exciting. I'm going to keep my expectations low and hopefully be surprised!

Fhtagn!

A very wise friend of mine once said that the key to happiness is keeping your expectations low. I think you also are very wise, Alex. :)

Alex Nguyen wrote: "I gotta admit The Colour Out of Space hitting the big screen sounds exciting. I'm going to keep my expectations low and hopefully be surprised!

Fhtagn!"

Yes, because we might be in for more T&A and gore splashed scenery, like Herbert West and From Beyond!

Alex, did you ever see the faux trailer for At the Mountains of Madness? It looked like it would have been cool. No idea where the guy 'borrowed' all of his clips.

https://youtu.be/vw3tuiND_xk

“In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”

Ha! looks awesome with no sound. will check it out later when I'm not at work...

Alex Nguyen wrote: "Ha! looks awesome with no sound. will check it out later when I'm not at work..."

Sound is a must -- has an awesome music score!

Best faux-trailer I've seen! Pretty good for 10 years ago, heck pretty good for now.

I used to think that the Epic of Gilgamesh was the first extant work of science fiction, but I’ve come to realize I was wrong. The things that power Gilgamesh’s adventure are all supernatural. Gilgamesh might be fantasy but it isn’t SF.

So what is the first science fiction novel? I think I have to put my money behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Eighteen-year-old Mary Shelly built on the break-through science of her day (the discovery that electricity made a dead frog twitch) and built a story around a scientist (technically a mad scientist) bringing to life a “man” cobbled together out of parts scavenged from cadavers by running electricity through the corpse. Nothing supernatural, just the application of scientific principles.

As if that application of technology wasn’t terrifying enough, Shelly also had the genius to realize that a significant part of the horror she was crafting came from Victor Frankenstein’s total failure to be responsible about his work. He never really questions if he should create his monster and then he takes no responsibility for him once he’s brought to life. It’s only later, when he wants revenge, that he seeks to put an end to his experiment, but by then it’s questionable whether or not he is a greater monster than his creation.

What do you think is the first science fiction novel?

Most agree it's Shelley. AND certainly one of the first horror tales as well, that's part of her genius.
She was actually quite vague on the "assembly" process. Talk of graveyards, but not really body parts stitched together. Galvinism yes, but not specifically current passed into or through the body.
Almost alchemical, really, but still scientific!

I may be confusing movies with the original text in the stitching together of the body. It's been a while since I have read or seen any of them and there is a tendency for them to blur together in my memory. Still, not to bad. She created the most famous monster in the world.

People know the Summer of '69 thanks to Bryan Adams but shout out for Summer of 1816! Can you imagine how cool that must have been to be part of the perfect storm of spending time at Lake Geneva in what turned out to be one of the ultimate Creative Writing Camps that resulted in Frankenstein.

Alex, you're a hundred percent correct. And if that wasn't enough, John William Polidori came up with the idea of a story called The Vampyre at the same sitting--the story that inspired Dracula. Summer of 1816 must have been awesome!

Some recent news on the Nicholas Cage 2019 The Colour out of Space film.

The first 'still' has been released.

Look at all the pretty colors!

https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/new...

I seriously cannot wait. I think Cage might be a good choice for this because he's so game. He did a good job as Kent.

William wrote: "I seriously cannot wait."

Me either. Really looking forward to it. It's very rare that a fav author of mine gets some silver screen time. So I'm always ready to support it when they do.

Now if they'd just do a Burroughs that they haven't touched yet, or a Clark Ashton Smith, or an Edmond Hamilton...

Maybe we should do the Colour Out of Space in Written Gems. Think about the story and then we can discuss the changes they made in the movie version.

Gilbert wrote: "Maybe we should do the Colour Out of Space in Written Gems. Think about the story and then we can discuss the changes they made in the movie version."

It's a great story. You know I'm always up for any of these old pulp guys. I'm listening to The Cairn on the Headland right now by Robert E. Howard. It has one of my favorite themes REH employed in his James Allison tales (although this isn't a JA yarn)--where a guy is flooded with memories of a past life.

In this case, he recalls fighting the Vikings with Brian Boru against Odin who had manifested himself in the flesh. Pretty darn good yarn, and it was the first REH I ever read as a kid in The Macabre Reader.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn2xC...