Pern, JKR, WB and fanfic was Re: GWTW Fanfic Provokes Lawsuit

[nlpnt at yahoo.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Jim Ferer" <jferer at y...> wrote:
> Ellen:"That doesn't seem to matter in the case of Anne McCaffreys 
Pern 
> books/ world.  Her people and lawyers are making things miserable 
> for people involved in Yahoo clubs role playing games based on Pern-
 
> JKR intends to write her seven books and that's it. 
> McCaffrey, OTOH, is trying to be the Barbara Cartland of SF, 
churning 
> 'em out at an endless clip. I read and enjoyed the first three 
books 
> of the series, before the franchise became Silhouette Desire in 
Space.
> 


And therein lies the rub; JKR is in her prime, and will be done with 
HP before the series gets tired (I'd like to see her continue 
writing, however). She doesn't have to worry about fanfic authors 
outdoing her, which someone of Lori or Penny & Carole's talents (npi) 
could easily do to McCaffrey were it advisable. Some of McCaffreys 
later work does read like fanfiction; this has often been stated 
about post-Aivas Pern, but imho that's the only readable part of her 
newer plots; I also could do without the "Silhouette Desire In Space" 
bits.
 
 WB, of course, is the wild card; I'd feel better if JKR had retained 
trademark rights. That having been said, they did allow "Coyote v. 
Acme" to be published in book form (in a collection of essays by the 
same title); if they were totally humorless that never would've 
happened.