Do read Henry Warwick's comment on my post on Roger Dean and Avatar. It makes a lot of sense and has a good link in it. And way to call this issue years ago!
I too am not totally convinced that Dean can successfully sue. You can copy people's ideas so surely you can copy their imagery. Unless there is some more strict copyrighting you have engaged in.
It was rather silly, and disingenuous, of Cameron to talk as if he'd never heard of Dean though. Why not just say "Yeah I love Yes and I love Dean's art" and so on.
2 comments:
Perhaps J Cameron was influenced by the history of big films being sued, and decided to err on the side of caution. Silly and disingenuous, perhaps, but legally savvy?
Thanks for that Tim! Yeah - the moment one of those floating islands appeared, I was thinking "Yessongs". And then with the waterfalls and the heavy atmosphere, I thought, "Close to the Edge" and just tucked it away in the back of my head until I got home and could do some research.
It's pretty clear Dean's work inspired Cameron. I don't know if Dean has a legal leg to stand on. I think Cameron blew it from the gitgo - he should have thrown money at Dean to come up with some artwork re: Avatar. Then whatever Dean came up with (floating islands, weird flying beaties, etc.) would have been property of Avatar, and all of this could have been obviated.
Instead, Dean looks like an idiot for not noticing for 4 years (like, really? Four years?!?!?) and Cameron looks like even more of a rich appropriator than ever before, and all that's left is a stink in a room that is characteristic of high paid lawyers....
Sigh. So sad.
I'm glad you liked my review. I still think it's pretty spot on.
cheers!
HW
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