CockyGate and Who Does it Hurt? Also...READERS AREN'T STUPID!
Sorry, I had to add that last because I still can't believe any author would insult their own readers intelligence like that.
But I should probably start from the beginning.
I've made two videos covering this, which I highly recommend you check out, but to summarize, there is an author few have heard of-which has been pointed out happens more with KU authors, nothing against them, but there is a bit of a divide-claimed that others were trying to copy her book titles to use her fame to sell books. And it was confusing her readers, so she registered a trademark.
For the word 'Cocky'.
Since then, she's been sending threatening emails to authors who have 'Cocky' in their title. Even authors who had the title before her books were published. Strangely enough, she's only going after authors who can't afford to bring this to court.
This situation if huge, and ugly, but it sets a dangerous precedent that any author could claim any single word and eliminate the competition. Rather than books doing well on merit, you will see books by whoever had the money to trademark a word.
Which may sound ridiculous, but having money is already a huge game-changer in regards to promotion, artwork, visibility. This would be another hurdle for authors without the financial backing to jump over.
And that's just the beginning.
Courtney Milan wrote a threat covering the whole situation here:
And here are three excellent blog posts that cover it as well:
Legal Inspiration: Romance Author Gets Unduly Cocky Over Registered Trademark
and
And here are my videos:
Part One:
and Part Two:
For those just coming across this situation, I hope this helps. This community is much stronger when we stand together. This could harm the book world as a whole, which is why so many are taking a stand.
If you get a chance, please go show the authors hurt by this some support. Many have a long road ahead of them, but it's important that they know they're not alone. <3
But I should probably start from the beginning.
I've made two videos covering this, which I highly recommend you check out, but to summarize, there is an author few have heard of-which has been pointed out happens more with KU authors, nothing against them, but there is a bit of a divide-claimed that others were trying to copy her book titles to use her fame to sell books. And it was confusing her readers, so she registered a trademark.
For the word 'Cocky'.
Since then, she's been sending threatening emails to authors who have 'Cocky' in their title. Even authors who had the title before her books were published. Strangely enough, she's only going after authors who can't afford to bring this to court.
This situation if huge, and ugly, but it sets a dangerous precedent that any author could claim any single word and eliminate the competition. Rather than books doing well on merit, you will see books by whoever had the money to trademark a word.
Which may sound ridiculous, but having money is already a huge game-changer in regards to promotion, artwork, visibility. This would be another hurdle for authors without the financial backing to jump over.
And that's just the beginning.
Courtney Milan wrote a threat covering the whole situation here:
I’ve had a bunch of people in my mentions ask me for a summary of #cockygate #byefaleena, so here goes...with links, and some new additions at the end.— Courtney!!! Milan 🦖 (@courtneymilan) May 5, 2018
And here are three excellent blog posts that cover it as well:
Don’t Do This, Ever: Faleena Hopkins Cocks The Whole Entire Fuck Up
Legal Inspiration: Romance Author Gets Unduly Cocky Over Registered Trademark
and
Pajiba-Cocky Writer: Romance Author Faleena Hopkins Trademarks 'Cocky' and Tries to Shut Down Others Using the Word
And here are my videos:
Part One:
For those just coming across this situation, I hope this helps. This community is much stronger when we stand together. This could harm the book world as a whole, which is why so many are taking a stand.
If you get a chance, please go show the authors hurt by this some support. Many have a long road ahead of them, but it's important that they know they're not alone. <3
I've never heard of Faleena Hopkins much less read any of her books. However her doing this doesn't make me want to check out her work. As a matter of fact, I will never buy any of her books, now or in the future.
ReplyDeleteAs of five days ago, a person who is both a trad-published and self-published author was applying trademarks on their series titles. If you want more information contact me via email or on twitter at @VLCookeAuthor.
ReplyDelete