Harlan Ellison sues (again)

Source: SFX Magazine

The writer behind the likes of Trek’s City On The Edge OF Forever and numerous tomes has launched two legal cases against publishers

There’s a law in science fiction: don’t get Harlan Ellison angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. He’s not a man you want to feel you’ve slighted, because he’s more than happy to pursue claims through courts.

In the past, Ellison has fought and won cases against even behemoths such as AOL over people reprinting his work without permission online. But his latest pair of arguments are slightly different – one relates to the use of his creations in Star Trek’s “City On The Edge Of Forever”, and the other to personal issues of defamation and use of publicity.

Peter David has covered the fact that Harlan is blasting publishers Simon And Schuster and Pocket Books over the release of a book titled Crucible: McCoy – Provenance Of Shadows, for using the characters from “City…” without his permission. He’s apparently demanding a “trailer-truck full of cash” from the companies for failing to obtain the proper adaptation rights.

David fans will know that among his most famous Trek novelisations is Imzadi, which also uses the Guardian Of Forever from the episode. So why didn’t this bother Harlan? Simple politeness on David’s part: “I called Harlan and he personally assured me that Imzadi will not be a part of the litigation, for two reasons: First, he’d never cause a close friend that kind of grief, and second, way back in the day when I first came up with the plot, I called him and asked permission. He gave me the okay, I wrote the book, and dedicated it to him.”

The other matter is an even knottier case. He’s suing Fantagraphics owners Gary Groth, Kim Thompson and 20 unnamed individuals for alleged defamation and violation of privacy. The claim springs from comments in Fantagraphics’ upcoming Comics As Art publication, which detail Groth’s alleged experiences while fighting a court case with Ellison against writer Michael Fleisher. Fleisher had sued Ellison and the fledgling company over comments, which Ellison had made about his writing in an interview. Ellison and Groth won the case, but Groth’s later remarks about Elison’s conduct during the case have now caused Harlan to sue. Also included in the new case is Fantagraphics apparent unauthorised use of Ellison’s name on the cover of a Comics Journal issue.

“We can’t comment on this until we confer with our attorneys,” Groth told Comics Journal’s Journalista blog. “Except to say that we will fight this vigorously.” Those interested in reading Ellison’s complaint should head on to this link, for a copy of it in PDF form. It makes for heady reading and feels – if he wrote it – like classic Harlan.

Both cases continue.