Friday, August 21, 2009

TMZ Reports


I looked into a comment that was made on a previous post by an anonymous commenter. It turns out there is some truth to it, so I took the liberty of posting the actual article. On August 4, 2009, this was published on TMZ.com.
"Turns out Stephenie Meyer, the woman behind the Twilight series, isn't the only person to write about sexy vampires -- 'cause she's being accused of ripping off the storyline for her fourth ultra-successful book by a less famous, less rich author.A woman named Jordan Scott fired off a cease and desist letter to the publisher of "Breaking Dawn" -- the fourth book in the series -- claiming the Twilight tale contains a "striking and substantial similarity" to Scott's book, "The Nocturne." In her extremely detailed letter, Scott claims her book was published in 2006 -- two years before "Breaking Dawn" -- and it's no coincidence that many of the scenes are almost identical. Such as... -- Both books contain a post-wedding sex scene-- Both books contain a scene about a woman who's sick because she's carrying a child with "evil powers"-- Both books contain a scene with the death of the main character's wifeAnd according to Scott, the dialogue in all of these scenes -- and more -- is extremely similar. But Meyer's rep is calling BS -- telling TMZ, "The claim that 'Breaking Dawn' by Stephenie Meyer somehow infringes on an alleged book by someone named Jordan Scott is completely without merit. Neither Stephenie Meyer nor her representatives had any knowledge of this writer or her supposed book prior to this claim.""

TMZ continues to report. On August 19, 2009, an actual lawsuit was filed:
"The author of the "Twilight" series is being sued by a woman who claims the 4th installment is a rip-off of her work. Jordan Scott claims in her lawsuit, filed today in federal court, that she began writing a novel "in the vampire genre" when she was just 15 -- back in 2003. The novel was published in 2006 and called "The Nocturne."Scott claims the 4th installment of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series lifted her work. She says Meyer's book -- "Breaking Dawn" is a "significant literary departure from [her] early books..." She says it seems the book is "written by a teenager." Yes, Scott was a teenager when she wrote "The Nocturne."Scott claims the two books "show striking, articulable and substantial similarities in the ... plot lines, themes, dialogue, mood, setting, pace, characters, sequence of events, ideas and other similarities." TMZ published a story about the specific plot similarities... Scott is asking for damages, and that the court impound the "Breaking Dawn" books that are being sold."

So what do you think? Does anyone think this is a rip-off? And how easy would this be to prove? Do you know how many stories I've read with similar story lines!?! And there have been SO many vampire books that are EXACTLY like Twilight; stories that have been published after Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series came out. I guess what I'm trying to say is, though the story line is similar, this doesn't mean that Stephenie took the idea from anyone. I think anyone can have an idea and it be similar to someone else's but it doesn't mean the idea was stolen, by any means. I think this is silly! I would love to hear everyone's opinions on this. By the way, I am only one of several contributors to OTC, and my opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other contributors.
-Tara D.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think people are so jealous over how well this series has taken off that they just want to get in on the publicity and money. It's very sad! I hope the court rules Stephenie's favor.

Anne said...

I heard somewhere that there are really only 12 story lines that we hear over and over again with a different twist each time. How many movies have we seen that we more than similar to one we had seen before. I think some people just think a lot alike. Stephanie's saga has been incredibly successful and I think this is just someone looking for their 15 minutes. She's probably got some kind of grudge that Stephanie's books got so popular while hers no one has really heard of.
Team Stephanie all the way!!!

Bitten said...

Interesting way to get your own unoticed book to sell, claiming it way plagerized by another more successful book.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, this whole lawsuit is rediculous!
<3 Kacy

Anonymous said...

I think that Steph's story line is logical given the drama of the books, I think the lawsuit is ludicrous...I think this other author wants a boost in sales. How many truely devasted twilight fans would there be without the closure of Breaking Dawn???

hoLLy said...

i agree tara-this is just plain stupid. people can have similar ideas-it doesn't mean one copied the other! this lady is just trying to bring attention to her own book and make some money. loser.

Anonymous said...

just an FYI sorry its so long, it shows through public record that Stephanie Meyer had her book protected 3 years before Jordan scott did... lol lame person.

The following information is readily viewable to anyone doing a simple site search at the copyright office. If anyone had thought to try this a year ago they would have had a hell of a spoiler in the name of the Application Title. additionally Stephenie has stated in various interviews and as reflected in her “craptstic covers” that she originally toyed around with publishing under a pen name that included her maiden name of Morgan. You can see that name reflected in the registration as well.

Link here

Forever dawn.
Type of Work: Text
Registration Number / Date: TXu001163060 / 2004-01-05
Application Title: Renesmee.
Title: Forever dawn.
Description: 241 p.
Copyright Claimant: Stephenie Morgan Meyer (Morgan Meyer)
Date of Creation: 2003
Rights and Permissions: Rights & permissions info. on original appl. in C.O.

Names: Meyer, Stephenie Morgan
Meyer, Morgan




Now when one looks up Ms. Scott’s work what is discovered is that nothing was legally filed until AFTER, Breaking Dawn was published. Now the work itself (though not filed for copyright) was online starting in 2006 which is a full two years after Stephenie Meyer filed her Forever Dawn manuscript:

Type of Work: Text
Registration Number / Date: TX0006874176 / 2008-09-19
Application Title: The Nocturne.
Title: The Nocturne.
Description: Electronic file (eService)
Copyright Claimant: Jordan Scott.
Date of Creation: 2003
Date of Publication: 2006-07-05
Nation of First Publication: United States
Authorship on Application: Jordan S Scott, 1988- ; Domicile: United States; Citizenship: United States. Authorship: Entire text, editing, orginal work.



ISBN: 100977799697
Names: Scott, Jordan S, 1988-
Scott, Jordan

Anonymous said...

I think this is someone with a wounded Ego that there 'original idea' wasn't as original as she thought. No way did Stephenie rip her off.

Janelle said...

If this Jordan Scott person is so upset about her work being ripped off then why is she waiting almost 4 years after Breaking Dawn was published to accuse Meyer?? It doesn't make sense unless she's just looking for a quick way to make some money and publicity!

Anonymous said...

i agree with you Tara, she is just trying to get her name and book out into the market for others to tag... there are so many cruel people out there trying to earn a quick buck, that they dont really stop and think about what they are really after. This Jordan Scott needs to back off, take a breath and apologize to Stephenie and the Twilight fans.

Anonymous said...

Lets all do the right thing then and NOT buy Jordan Scott's book. She's obviously trying to make money from someone else's success. Poor Stephenie!!!

Katie said...

Stephanie Meyer would never copy off anybody!!

Taryn M said...

I think this is all BS! Just because The Twilight Saga Blew UP doesnt mean u gotta lie to become famous or to sell ur book. Also i have read many vampire books with TONS of simularities, theres this one book called Dead Until Dark and its almost like Twilight only backward but that doesnt mean Stephanie stole it, dang people lighten up will ya?

Anonymous said...

My question, too, is why would she write 3 books and then plagiarize the fourth? Come on!

Mandy said...

I think this girl is just trying to get publicity. MTV posted an article about this chick. She wants to be a screenwirter and will be graduating from UCLA soon. In my opinion she is just trying to use Stephanie's fame to make herself known.

Mandy said...

I also agree with Taryn M. The Sookie Stackhouse series (great series by the way) which the tv show TrueBlood is based off of has similarities to Twilight but both are sooo different at the same time.

Elya M. said...

As a literature teacher I see books that are very similar from genre to genre. It is difficult NOT to have some similarities when it comes to specific topics (i.e. vampires, werewolves, mermaids, magic..you get the point) due to the information that we are able to have about these things.

I would think her book sales would increase due to the nature of the subject and how widely that particular idea of "demon" offspring is now accepted in literature. I feel that she should be greatful of this coincedence and push her book sales using the similarities!