Friday, May 11, 2012

WHAT'S IN A NAME? (or, a Cautionary Tale)

Quite a bit, apparently, if your first name happens to be Adele. 

My good friend Adele Dubois, an erotic romance author, received a decidedly less than welcome gift on May 11.  On that day, she received a cease and desist letter for copyright infringement.  And what, you may ask, inspired this drastic action?  Why, Heaven help us, she had used her own LEGAL FIRST NAME --Adele--on the cover of her legally copyrighted book, Intimate Art.  Confronted by this Use (Mis-use? Overuse?) of the Law instigated by Sony Entertainment, Google took down my friend's promotional post on the blog where she had posted it.   Which, to be fair, we would want them to do if someone was pirating one of our books.  My beef is not with Google.  No, my issue is with Sony, which apparently thought my friend Adele using her own name to publish her own book somehow threatened the sanctity of the name.  As in...you know...the OTHER Adele.  This apparently constituted justification for interfering with the income and livelihood of Adele Dubois and nineteeen other writers who happen to post on the same blog.   Part of the complaint lists a URL that goes to a book by Marianne Stephens, who owns the copyright.  That has nothing to do with Adele Dubois.  Marianne is attempting to seek legal counsel.

Can you say gobsmacked?  For the first time in my life, I am grateful to my mother for giving me a name the world at large has a great deal of difficulty spelling, much less pronouncing.  God forbid she should have named me Adele, like my friend's mother who thought it was a nice name.  It is a nice name.  But with due respect to the other "A" lady, who I'm sure has no idea what is transpiring, it's just NOT THAT RARE.  A lot of women have it.  And to be perfectly honest, my friend Adele and I are almost of an age give or take a bit and...frankly, my dear... only peripherally aware of the existence of the other A. (guess I shouldn't say her name).  As far as I know, I've never heard one of her songs, which I'm sure are very nice.  I'm sure she's very nice.  I wish her the absolute best, I convey my blessings to her house, I hope she has a great life.

I don't really wish the same to Sony's attorneys.

UPDATED 5/14/12:

FOR MORE ON THE STORY:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/post/is-adele-dubois-the-romance-writer-infringing-on-adele-the-singer/2012/05/14/gIQAT32WPU_blog.html#pagebreak

16 comments:

  1. I just don't see how Sony can take away the right for someone to use their own name. It doesn't make any sense.

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  2. Are we going to have to not only copyright our works but trademark our names, titles, character names and who knows what else? Where will it stop?

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  3. Good questions, ladies. I am hoping this is the equivalent of an out-of-control spam bot. With Adele's long record of publications online, copyright dates readily available, etc., wouldn't a human being know it's an accusation without merit? But bots don't mail C&D letters--people do. Why leave the burden of proof to the author, meanwhile adversely affecting her sales and promotion efforts? Sony works with artists. They know what an enforced hiatus from your career means. I don't understand it from such a large and basically well-respected entity. This seems to reflect the sickness of our times and I'm both saddened and confounded by it.

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  4. That is completely outrageous. Reminds me of that McDonald's kerfuffle with the Scottish McDonald family because they had a restaurant named McDonald's. Oh the lengths of preposterous.

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  5. This isn't new. Singer Emelie Sandé was made change her name, which is Adele Sandé, because she was told it would confuse listeners! While Emelie is her real middle name, she had never used it until forced to by her producers, who basically told her to change or she's in breach of her contract, which is with Virgin who probably had words with Sony. Or vice versa.

    I'm just glad I got in first with my first name. I've seen a few others with my spelling, but so far I'm the oldest,therefore ther first . . . not sure if being the oldest is a good thing though ;-)

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  6. Well, I guess this name is out for newborns.

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  7. I am confused as how Sony can sue someone for their legal name? This does not make any sense to me. I have been in the entertainment industry for over 15 years and don't see why they would attack an author this way. Confusing. I wish her the best of luck and hope it gets straigtened out but the upside is I am positive this is helping sell her books as any poublicity does.

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  8. Yes, Rue, we are all quite mystified by this. On the flip side, as you say, it may help her books. Intimate Art is available on Amazon if anyone wants to look at it and see that it has nothing even remotely to do with "A," the singer. Adele Dubois has a number of other books out under her name as well--she was writing under her own name for years before "A" ever made the charts--and none of them are about any singers. So -- ???

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  9. I remember the time years ago when I was living in Las Vegas when a restaurateur named Fred or Joe or Pete Sinatra started a supper house called "Sinatra's." You guessed it. He was sued immediately by ol' Blue Eyes himself.

    There is a burgeoning field in law right now, that of intellectual property, and it is hideously complex. I hope, as Miriam hints, that the force is with the team of lawyers, in the form of a large laser placed strategically behind their laps...and that Adele enjoys a huge surge in sales.

    Slán, Erin

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  10. What they're doing to Adele is flat out wrong! I can't believe it's gone this far...

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  11. My goodness, Ms. O'Quinn, I see this got your Irish up! :) Were you to get your wish, I would just hope that Adele D. enjoyed her surge more.

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  12. It's really ridiculous. I don't know how you can claim copyright to such a common name, as pretty as it is...

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  13. Well, Lisa, it's understandable that attorneys guard their celebrity clients from anyone trying to "ride their coat tails." And I think on the whole writers have been supportive of other creative artists' need to protect their intellectual property, even though our books are pirated every day and nobody seems to give a damn. But this doesn't appear to show the least instance of legality, common sense or the ability to do even minimal research before attacking twenty writers simultaneously. And everything has a tipping point.

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  14. Thank you for your support. I appreciate your kind comments.

    Best--Adele Dubois

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  15. You're welcome, Adele. This seems to be affecting writers more and more frequently and it's a real concern.

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