“Stop, Thief! Said author Harlan Ellison.”
Saturday, September 17th, 2011
Some time ago I posted a youtube link in which Harlan Ellison rants about people taking writers’ work and not paying – it’s here.
He meant business.
Now the Hugo award-winning author is suing to stop the scheduled Oct. 28 U.S. release of In Time, a new science fiction film starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, which he says is a rip-off from his 1965 prize-winning short story, “Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman.” He’s especially agitated because he has been trying to cut a deal to have a film made of his story.
According to the Guardian:
According to Ellison’s suit, both works are based on the premise of a “dystopian corporate future in which everyone is allotted a specific amount of time to live”. The writer also says In Time lifts other concepts from his story, including the presence of authority figures known as “Timekeepers” who track the precise amount of time each citizen has left, and similarities in the way those whose time runs out meet their end. …
It’s not clear whether Ellison has seen In Time, but he points out that critics such as Richard Roeper, who have attended advance screenings, claim that the film is based on his story.
Film clip of Andrew Niccol‘s In Time below. Looks interesting. I’m tempted to catch it … if it ever opens in the U.S. … Maybe I’ll save my ten bucks (or whatever movies cost nowadays) and read Ellison’s story instead. Really, what protection do authors have nowadays for their ideas – which, after all, is a major criterion in the science fiction genre? Check out the Ellison rant. He’s right.
