Hey, Michael Brookes is reading the thread.
It could be interesting to hear an opinion of an actual writer.
It could be interesting to hear an opinion of an actual writer.
Sapkowski is suing CDProjekt Red over The Witcher rights
- Thread starter VR StarLightPL
- Start date
There was a similar thing in the UK a while ago, the guy who painted the painting on the cover of Jethro Tull's Aqualung album sold it to the record company for buttons
They sell millions of records over the last few decades and now he regrets it, as far as I know he hasn't got anywhere
Looked it up and it appears Sapkowski is officially part of the project as Creative Consultant. Wonder if he'll flip out and turn on Netflix, too.
Casting Ciri as a POC was probably inevitable. I don't think it's possible to get away with creating a new show without a prominent POC character these days. There's no way they were ever going to cast a non-white actor as Geralt so of course they went with Ciri. Ethnic recasting of the female lead, and then hewing very close to the source material for all other characters, seems to be the way to go with pop-culture adaptations these days. Same thing happened with the show adaptation of Preacher and the character of Tulip.
Regardless of law, business practices and whether the dude is likeable: its pathetic to profit so much from someone's work and compensate him so little just because you can.
Guess they dont mind me buying a steam key for their cyberpunk game for a tenner instead of paying full price like I did with W3. Its legal, so who cares about morality.
Seems like a bit of a stretch to imply that buying a game on sale is less moral than paying full price on launch day. But uh Okay.
I think old man learned from his mistakes and drafted a proper legal contract this time, ensuring cozy retirement. It is also entirely possible that the law firm he hired for overseeing the deal tempted him into that stunt with CDPR... He also said that he has no involvement with the movie whatsoever http://boundingintocomics.com/2018/...as-no-creative-involvement-in-netflix-series/
As for non-white Ciri, that was a rumour and there is a counter-rumour that there are castings here in Poland for Ciri as we speak. Can't really tell, and it doesn't really matter to me to be honest. I mean, it would look stupid, but would it bother me? Not in the slightest, I would probably snicker at first like today I saw a cool "black He-Man cosplay"
Btw. check it out: http://bit.ly/2yh8M3N
Regardless of law, business practices and whether the dude is likeable: its pathetic to profit so much from someone's work and compensate him so little just because you can.
Guess they dont mind me buying a steam key for their cyberpunk game for a tenner instead of paying full price like I did with W3. Its legal, so who cares about morality.
If I understood correctly, CDPR offered him a choice beween getting a percentage of the game's profits or a fixed sum. He chose the fixed sum. Not CDPR's fault he now, in hindsight, changed his mind.
And in an interesting turn of events, another fantasy author almost said he would give CDPR his rights... for free. Just for them to make a game in the universe.
https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/9lhvg2/brandon_sanderson_would_seriously_consider_a/
I didn't know Mistborn until today, but judging from rabid fanbase reaction I need to read it ;-)
https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/9lhvg2/brandon_sanderson_would_seriously_consider_a/
I didn't know Mistborn until today, but judging from rabid fanbase reaction I need to read it ;-)
My research isn't off, I just dont agree with your conclusions. Let me put it like this, if I earned an absolute fortune from your life's work I would give you a fair share of it. Even if you had the chance long time before and made the wrong choice. And I think the world would be vastly nicer place if everyone was like that.
Just because something isn't your fault doesn't mean you should automatically ignore or discard it.
I am not talking about the game on sale. I'll buy it for a tenner on launch day.
Then again, as a wage slave coder you have a wage. That is also nice to have. On average, a wage slave coder has a far higher income, guaranteed.
- Hey StarLight its Sleutelbos, I'd like to shar...
- Get out!
- I'd really like to...
- Get out! Your game is poo and your Geralt smells of elderberries!
- But I think I owe you...
- I fart in your general direction! Gamers are unintelligent and my book sales are hurting from my newfound popularity!
... at which attempt would you conclude that the person you're dealing with is unstable at best, and gave up? Because judging from Sapkowski's behaviour on various interviews and conventions, this scenario is not far from being plausible
Rumours say (too tired to look up sources rn) that they approached him a few times offering unspecified "better deal" or "renegotiation". I think around W2. At some point they simply gave up, I think.
But when I don't have one any more, I'd very much love to still get paid for the stuff I did previously as long as it is in use, and I want that title to be transferred to my descendants for the better part of a century after I die!
Well, it's great to see how generous you can be in hypothetical situations. The world feels a better place already. Yes, there is merit in the polish law that seeks to protect creators from short sightedness and being too easily taken advantage of by unscrupulous parties. Whether that's the case or not in this case though is a matter for the courts to decide, not the one-sided argument you're making of it. Could you define "absolute fortune" and tell me why that applies to CDPR? They made profits for sure, but in order to make them they had to commit lots of money in the first place. And it's not like we're talking of a single person either, that "absolute fortune" is paying a lot of salaries. Employees/salaries that the company developed into based on financial projections which probably didn't plan on unilateral terms change with something they already paid for and have a track record of having pushed for what would have (in hindsight) been a better deal for the author. Retroactively changing the terms would probably have a noticeable impact on the company's financial liabilities. It might be the right thing to do, it might not. The law is there for a good reason. Whether it applies in this case is a question to be considered by the polish courts taking a fair few factors into account. Otherwise, Poland would have simply set in stone a fixed % cut for every derivative IP work.
Nothing I have seen from CDProjekt show them to be anything but honourable guys making games and being successful as well.
People are saying in the past that CDProjekt have offered him a percentage of the game and he turn it down.
Personally I think that should mean he forfeit alright to use this law.
It be interesting to know how the polish courts have implemented this law. Have they allowed it to be use in the way that sapkowski want to use or have judges limited it use to where people have been out right conned out of the true value of their ip.
They were never going to go for a all white cast. Even in Lost In Space they went to the convoluted and as unexplored story that Maureen Robinson had a affair so they could include a totem black member to the main cast. So the cast in The Witcher was never going to be all white, like I bet the characters in the book were. If they went for a all white caste the Guardian and other left wing news papers and blogs and news sites would be lining up to criticise the show.
Normally I'd agree that the artist should get a free share, but in this case, I don't know....
When I first heard this guy badmouthing the series sometimes around TW2, I couldn't believe it. This guy seems to have no clue about the amount of publicity the games have generated for his work, and how media franchises work in general. That, or he's ill-intentioned. I had no idea the series was based on books until playing the first game and falling in love with it. It if weren't for the games, I doubt it that his books would have even been translated in English.
Also, why wait so long to make your claim, the series is more than 10 years old, the last game is more than 3 years old, a company can't be expected to just sit around with cash in their pocket just in case some old coot decides to take you to court.
And last but not least, the game's success is based on it's own merit. These games are truly works of art. The books may be good, I haven't read them, but they have nothing to do with the thrill I got from discovering Hjalmar's lost expedition on Undvik, one body at a time, or the rage I felt when Priscilla was attacked.
When I first heard this guy badmouthing the series sometimes around TW2, I couldn't believe it. This guy seems to have no clue about the amount of publicity the games have generated for his work, and how media franchises work in general. That, or he's ill-intentioned. I had no idea the series was based on books until playing the first game and falling in love with it. It if weren't for the games, I doubt it that his books would have even been translated in English.
Also, why wait so long to make your claim, the series is more than 10 years old, the last game is more than 3 years old, a company can't be expected to just sit around with cash in their pocket just in case some old coot decides to take you to court.
And last but not least, the game's success is based on it's own merit. These games are truly works of art. The books may be good, I haven't read them, but they have nothing to do with the thrill I got from discovering Hjalmar's lost expedition on Undvik, one body at a time, or the rage I felt when Priscilla was attacked.
That's complete and you know it. The reason why there are token minority people in Hollywood productions comes from US Actors Guild union laws. European historical or fantasy movies are not colour washed (in any direction) and no one bats an eyelid. Holds true for Australian or NZ productions, like LOTR or Mad Max. The "token black people" is actually a tired trope from Hollywood and these "left wing news papers" will take shots at said trope if it's found to be a result of black washing. On the other hand yes, they'll also rightly take shots at white washing like the complete massacre that was the Ghost In The Shell movie, when the main character is called Motoko Kusanagi she's clearly supposed to be somewhat Japanese...
Also in the case of Witcher series that is now a straw man since the production team dropped the idea of black washing Ciri.
Yeah after the first game the books really took off here in Europe, i remember friends telling me about them even though they never heard of the game.
To add to this, CDPR did approach the author and ask him if he wanted to re-negociate and get a better deal, which he rejected outright and went on badmouthing gamers and games industry (and specifically the Witcher games, which obviously he didnt ever see a pixel of). And all of sudden he brings them to court...
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You know, I think it's the case of a greedy lawyer working on the Netflix contract, seeing a possibility of taking a shot at big money (they are always paid in % of the awarded "damage"), and convincing Sapkowski to try it. And given his attitude towards CDPR I don't think he needed much convincing.
I don't think Mr Sapkowski has any idea of how media works...far less multimedia. This latest convoluted nonsense is showing his ignorance and will more than likely do him more damage than good in the long term.
His whole attitude is of a despicable arrogance, typically suffered by Shakespearian actors, fantasy fiction writers and TV chefs.
His whole attitude is of a despicable arrogance, typically suffered by Shakespearian actors, fantasy fiction writers and TV chefs.
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The robot body was always been design to look like a caucasian female in the comic books and tv series.
Lol, whatever you say man. Here, how do you like this half-ethiopian girl?
Enjoy these true Egyptians!
And all of this is just fine, but the notion that a white character may have been considered a black role in a film adaption at some point in the past without it even happening; now that is outrageous!