Nardpuncher
Rear Admiral
You may be right about those 7 "core" stories, but I didn't know there was an eighth one called Man in Wheelchair Uses Articial Lifeform to Get Around.
Does James Cameron Owe Poul Anderson Money?
- Thread starter The Comedian
- Start date
You may be right about those 7 "core" stories, but I didn't know there was an eighth one called Man in Wheelchair Uses Articial Lifeform to Get Around.
Wasn't Titanic inspired by A Night to Remember? I've certainly seen that claim.
In addition to having something to do with a real disaster, yeah.
Just like Avatar is about colonialism, and also Dances With Wolves and Poul Anderson.
Well, there's the Anderson story, and there's also Leguin's The Word for World is Forest.
And, of course, Delgo.
Maybe if Avatar actually turns a profit they can look into satisfying all the aggrieved parties.
And, of course, Delgo.
Maybe if Avatar actually turns a profit they can look into satisfying all the aggrieved parties.
That's not how it works. Or do you know that?
They settled for a lot of money because they stood to lose much, much more. Entertainment companies are particularly eager to settle over these things when they know they're caught, because they don't want the courts setting precedents regarding their plagiarism (see Buchwald v. Paramount).
Cameron's people settled because they were caught red-handed, and for no other reason.
The lengths that people will go to in order to deny the reality of these things are remarkable.
Ellison won.
I was pointed to some information on the Ellison suit: it was the Starlog Interview in Issue #89 where Cameron allegedly said that he based it on Harlan's episode in the Outer Limits, and the production company had that stricken from the published version, but Ellison learned of it. The only Outer Limits episode mentioned in Ellison's suit was "Soldier" as far as I can tell.
Er, they were both inspired bythe same historical event: the sinking of the Titanic. That's not plagiarism, just history.
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (a great film, btw) didn't exactly invent the business about the ship hitting the iceberg . . . which is about all the films have in common.
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I just finished reading Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson without prior knowledge of James Cameron borrowing from it. The first page struck me as oddly familiar. After that the similarities to Avatar are unnerving. Yes, James ripped avatar from Poul Anderson and at the very least should give the man credit. This story was written in the 50's, the man was born in 1926, he was ahead of his time. Anyone who thinks that old Sci-Fi writers do not deserve credit are horribly uneducated people, and it just illuminates the current trend of decay in our society. I watched Avatar once and that was enough for me, I cringe when I hear the term Sci-Fi attached to that piece of hyped fantasy. Real Sci-Fi fans know the difference. James took liberties with a decent Sci-Fi story and added tree spirits, love, evil vs good and destroyed any semblance to Mr. Anderson's original. But adding those painful to watch Fantasy elements doesn't absolve Cameron of plagerisim. This should be made public, the man is a fraud, and allowing word trolls like him to use the term 'original' is akin to an evil parent rubbing lemon juice on a childs open wound, it's abuse of power. Now I know why I disliked Avatar and wanted 3 hours of my life
back.
back.
Gee, then Anderson ripped it off from a dozen other places.
Right - you disliked the movie at the time you saw it based on alleged plagiarism you knew nothing about at the time you saw it.
That statement doesn't even meet a minimal test of logic for anything other than a meaningless attempt to provoke an argument.
Tree spirits? Far be it for me to defend Avatar... but, the clear implication of the movie is that Pandora is a biological machine and a self-aware planet that all the life on is connected to. Its basically one huge Cylon resurrection/Wi-Fi network, powered by the fabulously, generically termed unobtainium.
As has been stated, this story/plot line hasn't ever been particularly "original", at least since the rise of Western Civilization.
And ugg "true scifi"? Do we really need to nitpick that again? (I know the answer, of course we do...) all storytelling is fantasy, no matter the superficial trappings ascribed to it and everything is a remix.
As has been stated, this story/plot line hasn't ever been particularly "original", at least since the rise of Western Civilization.
And ugg "true scifi"? Do we really need to nitpick that again? (I know the answer, of course we do...) all storytelling is fantasy, no matter the superficial trappings ascribed to it and everything is a remix.
Thanks Kelso. You saved me the trouble of doing a Google Video Search. I hadn't seen this video for over a year, but I did remember it.
After watching it, I decided to look at another Harlan Ellison video interview on the list on the right side of the webpage. Here it is. Harlan is funny and he speaks the truth. He reminds me of the stand-up comedian Lewis Black in this short interview.
Navigator NCC-2120 USS Entente
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I think there are a few authors who've written things that resemble Avatar. Ben Bova for instance has an article on his website about a book he wrote that resembles Avatar. It just means that it's not entirely original a concept, that others have thought of it too.
That's out there.
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