Rant: You Stole What?

There's a lot of talk about book piracy online--pretty sure I've written about it before--but that's not what today's post is about. It's about a different kind of theft and where exactly the line in the sand is drawn.

Sit back, kiddos, because I have a lot to say...

Sort of.

(Really I'm just filling white space so the images line up :P


A couple weeks ago, I saw a blog post regarding cover art "theft." My gut instinct was that it was someone who didn't understand the cover industry's reliance on stock images and how often they are used and re-used. Because of that, I almost didn't click the link. Then I wondered if it was a situation where a photoshoot had been done for a specific book and the cover ended up on some other book. This is a big deal. Rare, I'd think, but a big deal. So I clicked the link. (I would love to provide you a link to the original post, but for the life of me, I can't find it. The Ashes trilogy by Ilsa Bick and Sketchy by Olivia Samms were the books in question.)

Screams of copyright infringement were shouted from fans. The author had the wisdom to set the record straight. This isn't a copyright fail. Both covers have the title cut out running down the center of the cover with the author name below. That's it. The end.

Pretty & a great read!

It would be like saying the cover art for Clockwork Mafia (which you will all get to see soon, I promise) is copying the cover art for Incarnate by Jodi Meadows just because both heroines are wearing butterfly masks. Sorry, but both heroines wear butterfly masks in both books, hers just came out first :P And in all fairness, beyond that fact, the covers look nothing alike. There will inevitably be similarities in cover art because publishers across the board are looking for and discovering what helps get books off the shelf. Yes, there is something to be said for being first, but especially in a genre like YA, people will soon forget that detail.

Sorry, can't share yet :P

So...no, not theft. Not to me and not to any legal team I've ever heard of.

But that brings us back to writing. If that isn't theft of cover art, why do so many authors have issue with books like 50 Shades of Grey? Because like it or lump it, it's different. Here's why...

50 took an existing series, existing characters, and a general idea of the plot (including pregnancy as I understand) and just changed the set-up. Instead of a vampire, we got a dim-Dom. Originally, even the character names were the same.

And that's the sticky part for most authors. Had 50 just come out of nowhere and felt like this whole weird, kinky version of Twilight, there's a decent chance that no one would have balked much. We would have done the whole "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" dance and left it at that. But the author didn't do that. Instead, she wrote fan fiction, posted it on the internet as fan fiction, and then changed the names (and allegedly not much more) and published it. She used the fan base of the original work to promote her story.

And to make matters more distasteful, the publisher of 50 seems to have been going after anyone and everyone looking to capitalize on its success...right down to people who run sex toy parties (like Tupperware parties, only hotter).

There's a wide space between inspiration and that. Where's the line? I don't know, but in the realm of cover art, it certainly isn't cut-out titles running down the middle of a cover.

Back Away from My Kink

(I need to preface this post with a warning. If you are a member of my family, you probably don't want to read this. Stop now, go read something else. Maybe come back next week. Agents/editors, there will be a degree of TMI in this post. I'm sorry. Uh... that goes for everyone else too. If you are easily offended or don't want to know anything more about my sex life than that I have one, please step away from the blog. Thank you.

Also, there is cursing involved.)

Still here? Cool.

There's a lot of talk going around about BDSM right now. As happens periodically, a book (sometimes it's a movie) has come out that drags the lifestyle into the mainstream and people start talking about it. This is a good thing. It is an opportunity for learning and understanding. (For a prime example of this, check out Wicked Lil Pixie's place. She's been interviewing people in the lifestyle for a better understanding--without falling prey to what the news media does and looking for the extreme of the extreme.)

Unfortunately, it is also an opportunity for people to rant about things they don't bother learning about and that they don't understand. Yesterday, I followed a fellow author's link to her blog. It initially looked as though it was going to be a rant against 50 Shades of Grey. (Now, here's the thing--I haven't read the book. I read the first few pages and couldn't get past the writing to bother. Other people love the book. More power to them as far as I'm concerned.) It wasn't about that though. It was a rant against BDSM.

On the plus side, the author admitted that she doesn't understand it. But she then went on to say that as far as she was concerned, it was abuse. Period. Maybe she backpedaled after saying that, but I was already seething and quit reading the post shortly thereafter (as it also was incredibly long, so I didn't want to suffer through it for that amount of time). Here's the deal...


Abuse (from Miriam Webster):
1  : a corrupt practice or custom

2

: improper or excessive use or treatment : misuse <drugabuse>

3   : 

obsolete : a deceitful act : deception

4

: language that condemns or vilifies usually unjustly, intemperately, and angrily

5

: physical maltreatment

Dear author of said blog,
I'm guessing, definition #5 was your argument for abuse. The problem with that is if the people involved (consenting adults, mind you) want and enjoy the aspects of BDSM (including spanking, flogging, collaring, or whatever happens to float their own personal boat), it would not--for them--be cruel and inhumane treatment (the definition of maltreatment).

However, your own post definitely fits under #4 in that it condemns people who do enjoy this lifestyle. So, there's your abuse. Congrats, it came from you. Personally, I prefer my floggings to be of a more physical nature from someone who cares about me and does it because I want him to. He doesn't abuse me. You did.

You also vilified a fair number of my friends. They might be people you know. They might not. It doesn't matter. You blindly and willfully got on your soapbox and shouted how wrong they were for liking to take or give up control. How wrong they were for wanting alpha males in their lives. How wrong they were for taking their sex with a side of discipline. And you did so by scoffing at one of the basic tenants of the kink community with your comment (paraphrasing to avoid linking back to your rant) about how you don't care about "live and let live" and not judging others. Oh really? Then it's perfectly okay for me to judge you and your sex life and relationships? Really? There's a saying we follow in the kink community that goes something like "It's not my kink." Personally, there are many things I don't enjoy, but if someone else does, it is their right.

You balked at collaring. That's fine. It's not your thing. Quite frankly, if my husband came home with a collar, I'd be a little taken aback. But here's the difference between your attitude of changing the locks and my kinky marriage--my husband and I would sit the fuck down and talk about why he wanted me to wear it, what it would mean to him, to me, and to our relationship. Guess which one of us would be less likely to head to divorce court.

You see, the world of kink isn't about abuse. It's about what feels good. If something doesn't feel good or right for you, you don't do it. You might try it on for size, but if you don't like it, you leave that out. And you talk to your partner about it. I've seen people ask questions about "how do I get my spouse to _______?" on kink websites. The most common answer is always something like "You can't make them, but talk to them about it." Kink is big on communication. Communication saves marriages.

And, as far as collaring and submission and servitude go, it's not my thing. I don't think I could ever do a 24/7 lifestyle. But, one of my very dear friends is contracted to a Dom. And she is the happiest now that I have ever known her. I'm not sure if that needs repeating, but here's the thing. Who the fuck are you to judge that? What gives you the right to stand on your soapbox and tell her that her path to happiness--that doesn't actually hurt anyone--is wrong? You're not her mother. You're not her sister. As far as I know, you're not even her friend. You're some author on a high horse who decided you're right and the rest of us are wrong.

Crazy statistic for you. There's a kink website I know (just one out of I don't know how many) that is rapidly approaching a million members. Now, if you consider the number of men and women who are of age and into kink that haven't joined (for whatever reason), that number's a whole lot bigger. Where do you get off telling a million plus people that they are wrong? That what they enjoy either in the bedroom or outside of it is bad (we're talking consenting adults here)?

I get that you are unhappy that those types of books--the ones with the alpha males and the BDSM and the kink--are selling. Hell, I write beta heroes rather often. A lot of people like the change, but a lot of others don't like them because those characters aren't "man enough." They dislike my heroine because she doesn't follow the "rules of romance." Whatever. They're the characters that are in the story and they belong there. And I like them. But I also like my alpha heroes. I also like my kinky characters. As an author, I get to put whatever I like into my books. Whatever fits. I'm in control there, but I don't get to control what other people want to read.

And neither do you.

You get to choose what's right for you. In your bedroom, your life, and your stories. But here's a heads up: my kink, my friends' kinks, BDSM books, alpha heroes... none of that affects you unless you want it to. Don't like it? Then don't do it. Don't participate. Don't write it. Don't read it. No one (unless you have an editor pushing for it--who you're allowed to say no to) is forcing you down that path.

So stop abusing those of us who do choose to travel it with your words and your anger and your hate.

Beware the kinky. A lot of us will bite back.

Have a lovely vanilla day,
Seleste