Comicality Posted January 10, 2017 Posted January 10, 2017 <p>I know that I definitely talk to a lot of people and sometimes have email marathons and stuff where my brain gets a little fuzzy on details. It happens. Hehehe, I write a LOT! However, ummm...I'm not sure if you're reading this on the board (and I'll put this over at GayAuthors as well)...but if this is what I think it is, I have to say that I do <I>not</I> remember having this conversation. That's not an accusation. I could be wrong, or maybe I just forgot that we talked about it at some point. So if you see this, please drop me an email at Comicality@webtv.net for some details. I'm not upset, I just want to know what happened here. It's for a good cause and all, so talk to me. I can even help promote it. I'd love to be a part of doing something good. But...yeah, drop me an email. K?
spike382 Posted January 10, 2017 Posted January 10, 2017 Umm in and of itself, sending proceeds to the Orlando fund sounds great, but I'm fairly certain you'd remember if someone asked you to make a film based on GFD. You own the intellectual property rights for GFD, legally, even for a student film they'd have to get your permission. Especially if actual money is made. Sounds strange. 3
MrM Posted January 10, 2017 Posted January 10, 2017 With your consent I would like to post this in the video comments:A worthy project. I would suggest, however, connecting with and crediting the original author of this story who is a big name in the LGBTQ Online Authoring community. Not only will you be helping him expose his years of dedication and work on this project and many others, but he may be a great resource for connecting to those who might be able to fund this expression of his work. If he consents, I know that I would be very excited to see one of his fantastic stories put to film. This particular piece is a great choice. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCESMtd0M-zWK6Cgon7yOTRA 3
Site Administrator Valkyrie Posted January 10, 2017 Site Administrator Posted January 10, 2017 This guy is clearly trying to pass off your work as his own. The whole thing sounds fishy to me. That's an incredibly low amount to produce a film. While the stated intention is admirable, his methods are not OK, IMO. I'd be livid, if I were you. 3
Comicality Posted January 11, 2017 Author Posted January 11, 2017 I didn't want to jump to any conclusions just yet. I'm more focused on what happened here for right now. So I made a few posts on the boards and the like, and maybe he'll see it and contact me or something so we can talk about it. It may very well be a possibility that he asked permission at one time. It might have been *years* ago. He might have said, "Comsie, I'm a big fan of the story. I'm a college Froshman and I'd love to do a short film based on GFD." And I might have said, "Sure! Go for it! Just put my name in there somewhere and let me tell people where to find it." And maybe it took years for this whole thing to come to fruition or whatever and it's just now happening. Who knows? But I honestly DON'T remember having that conversation with anybody. Out of all the stories I've written on the site, while I love them all, the three most PERSONAL stories on the site have always been "My Only Escape", "Untouchable", and "Gone From Daylight". There is more of 'me' in those three stories than almost all of the others. So...it would be odd of me to just say, "Sure, go ahead and use the idea." without wanting to be involved in the creative process in some way, shape, or form. Especially if there's money involved, even if it's supposedly going to charity. I don't think I would ever do that. But...seeing as this was just brought to my attention yesterday, I'm keeping an open mind and I'll give him and anyone involved a chance to let me know what's going on. It's not like I'm totally against it. But "GFD" isn't something I would just 'give away' without any credit! Hehehe, that's 18 years worth of hard work! That's an entire CHILDHOOD'S worth of writing! As for copyright, one thing that's brilliant about Nifty is that every story I've ever written to them has been permanently dated with an unchangeable time stamp. I can PROVE that it was posted there. GayAuthors restructured their website in 2011 (I think) But all of my stories on this site are time stamped from that date forward as well. That's 95% of everything I've ever written as Comicality. Another 3% are the stories that I've written exclusively for the 'Blood Bank' site (Which are all directly tied into "GFD") and Imagine Magazine (Which are all tied to the site and to GA). The last 2% are ebook exclusives like "Boys Of Widow Lake" and newer versions of the popular stories on the site. (Which are protected under Amazon.com and includes "GFD" as I've released two books for that series already and I'm getting ready to release the 3rd. And "GFD: Nightfall" is there as well) So there are ways to actually prove that I'm the author, not to mention that I have years and years worth of saved fanmail in my saved folder about the story, as well as fanfic spinoffs written by dozens of other authors who would be willing to say, "Yeah. This story has been around forever!" BUT...like I said, I'm more interested to find out what happened right now. So I don't want to toss any accusations around just yet. But it IS called "Gone From Daylight", it IS about an abused teen, he's obviously standing on the ledge of a building ready to jump (not Navy Pier, but same thing), it's a gay teen story, he's saved by another mysterious gay teen, and looking at the gofundme page, it's inspired by movies like "Let The Right One In" and "Interview With The Vampire" (It IS a vampire story). Sooooo...yeah. Someone needs to talk to me about that ASAP. Anyway, THANKS for the support, you guys! I'm glad I'm not crazy here! I know that I write my stories for free and not for profit, but I wouldn't just 'give them away' for someone *else* to profit off of. Hehehe, I'm super BROKE, dude! I write for free so boys like Joey, and Nathan, and Caleb, and God knows how many other gay teens, college kids, and adults, can have access to them too. So they can find them, read them, and enjoy them to the point where I know my words did some good and made a difference. That means MUCH more to me than being rich. But if I can do *BOTH*??? Hehehe, well that would be lucky! 3
MrM Posted January 11, 2017 Posted January 11, 2017 I didn't want to jump to any conclusions just yet. I'm more focused on what happened here for right now. So I made a few posts on the boards and the like, and maybe he'll see it and contact me or something so we can talk about it. It may very well be a possibility that he asked permission at one time. It might have been *years* ago. He might have said, "Comsie, I'm a big fan of the story. I'm a college Froshman and I'd love to do a short film based on GFD." And I might have said, "Sure! Go for it! Just put my name in there somewhere and let me tell people where to find it." And maybe it took years for this whole thing to come to fruition or whatever and it's just now happening. Who knows? But I honestly DON'T remember having that conversation with anybody. Out of all the stories I've written on the site, while I love them all, the three most PERSONAL stories on the site have always been "My Only Escape", "Untouchable", and "Gone From Daylight". There is more of 'me' in those three stories than almost all of the others. So...it would be odd of me to just say, "Sure, go ahead and use the idea." without wanting to be involved in the creative process in some way, shape, or form. Especially if there's money involved, even if it's supposedly going to charity. I don't think I would ever do that. But...seeing as this was just brought to my attention yesterday, I'm keeping an open mind and I'll give him and anyone involved a chance to let me know what's going on. It's not like I'm totally against it. But "GFD" isn't something I would just 'give away' without any credit! Hehehe, that's 18 years worth of hard work! That's an entire CHILDHOOD'S worth of writing! As for copyright, one thing that's brilliant about Nifty is that every story I've ever written to them has been permanently dated with an unchangeable time stamp. I can PROVE that it was posted there. GayAuthors restructured their website in 2011 (I think) But all of my stories on this site are time stamped from that date forward as well. That's 95% of everything I've ever written as Comicality. Another 3% are the stories that I've written exclusively for the 'Blood Bank' site (Which are all directly tied into "GFD") and Imagine Magazine (Which are all tied to the site and to GA). The last 2% are ebook exclusives like "Boys Of Widow Lake" and newer versions of the popular stories on the site. (Which are protected under Amazon.com and includes "GFD" as I've released two books for that series already and I'm getting ready to release the 3rd. And "GFD: Nightfall" is there as well) So there are ways to actually prove that I'm the author, not to mention that I have years and years worth of saved fanmail in my saved folder about the story, as well as fanfic spinoffs written by dozens of other authors who would be willing to say, "Yeah. This story has been around forever!" BUT...like I said, I'm more interested to find out what happened right now. So I don't want to toss any accusations around just yet. But it IS called "Gone From Daylight", it IS about an abused teen, he's obviously standing on the ledge of a building ready to jump (not Navy Pier, but same thing), it's a gay teen story, he's saved by another mysterious gay teen, and looking at the gofundme page, it's inspired by movies like "Let The Right One In" and "Interview With The Vampire" (It IS a vampire story). Sooooo...yeah. Someone needs to talk to me about that ASAP. Anyway, THANKS for the support, you guys! I'm glad I'm not crazy here! I know that I write my stories for free and not for profit, but I wouldn't just 'give them away' for someone *else* to profit off of. Hehehe, I'm super BROKE, dude! I write for free so boys like Joey, and Nathan, and Caleb, and God knows how many other gay teens, college kids, and adults, can have access to them too. So they can find them, read them, and enjoy them to the point where I know my words did some good and made a difference. That means MUCH more to me than being rich. But if I can do *BOTH*??? Hehehe, well that would be lucky! Very good, Master. We shall wait and see, per your wisdom. ~sheaths copywrite sword for now~ 1
spike382 Posted January 11, 2017 Posted January 11, 2017 If anybody should be getting a GoFundMe for GFD, it's you Comsie. 3
Site Moderator Reader1810 Posted January 11, 2017 Site Moderator Posted January 11, 2017 (edited) You're being much nicer about this than I think I would be Comsie. I'd like to think this is legit, but I noticed he also calls himself a writer on his LinkedIn profile. Good luck. As for me, I'm going to follow MrM's noble self and stand down ...for now. Edited January 11, 2017 by Reader1810 2
Site Administrator Valkyrie Posted January 11, 2017 Site Administrator Posted January 11, 2017 I agree with Reader. You are being way nicer than I'd be. I'd be contacting him about this, not waiting for him to contact me. Like you said, this is a highly personal story to you and took a lot of time, creativity, and work. For someone to profit off this and, while not explicitly stated is certainly implied, claim it as their own is reprehensible. He owes you answers, at the very least. If this is legit, he should have contacted you prior to production and given credit where it's due. I'm a skeptic by nature, and this is raising a lot of red flags to me. We're all here to defend you have your back. I hope it's sorted out soon. 2
Brendan Posted January 11, 2017 Posted January 11, 2017 As a retired educator (college level) I am doubly disturbed. In the promotional video Mr. Bright states that he is doing this project as, "my thesis film for the University of Central Florida." All reputable colleges and universities take plagiarism and intellectual property rights very, very seriously. Since the University of Central Florida is a reputable university, I am quite certain they will fight this battle for you if you decide you need to take further action. No University wants to be publicly associated with plagiarism or a public violation of intellectual property rights. And, Mr. Bright made the issue public for the University of Central Florida by mentioning their name in the video. Good luck Comsie. 5
Comicality Posted January 11, 2017 Author Posted January 11, 2017 Hahaha! Well, you guys know me. I'm the nice guy until it's time NOT to be the nice guy! But I'm working through it, and I have a few friends looking into it. So if it can be solved peacefully, and I can get some credit, and he can get his short film made, and there's some pocket change to be made on both ends, AND we get to see a "GFD" adaptation in live action? Then that's a big win for everybody! So I just want to keep a level head and talk it out for now. Then I'll keep you all informed as to what is going on. K? Promise. I just want to be in on the gameplan if there is one. So I'll keep you all up to date as things unfold from here. It's barely been 24 hours, so it's too early to tell. Cool to know I have an army though! LOL! Mwah! 4
MrM Posted January 11, 2017 Posted January 11, 2017 Just say the word. You are far more forgiving than I am.
TurtleBoy Posted January 11, 2017 Posted January 11, 2017 Not to mention, if this guy fesses up, I'll betcha his film would be funded pretty damn fast. He's a moron for going behind your back and not tapping into the Comsie-market to begin with. I mean seriously?! LOL Dude... 17 years of GFD and an army of Comicality freaks... this guy clearly wasn't thinking. 5
spike382 Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 Not to mention, if this guy fesses up, I'll betcha his film would be funded pretty damn fast. He's a moron for going behind your back and not tapping into the Comsie-market to begin with. I mean seriously?! LOL Dude... 17 years of GFD and an army of Comicality freaks... this guy clearly wasn't thinking. This is such a good point. Comsie has an international multi-lingual fan base specifically for GFD. I'm sure some of us from various countries would be willing to drop 10 or 20 dollars on such a project. Especially if Comsie gave it promotion. 3
Recommended Posts