There's some excitement a few weeks ago where Alphonso Dunn uploaded a video on YouTube, alleging that Jake Parker plagiarised his book. It was rather comprehensive, and I can see why Alphonso would think so. I'm not so sure that Jake Parker can be said that he plagiarized Alphonso's book.
A necessary disclaimer is that I am not a lawyer, and this is my opinion only. You are free to disagree and to consult your own personal lawyer regarding this issue. Bearing that in mind, though, I do have some cases to base this on.
First of all, is this a clear case of plagiarism? I don't think so. Is Jake Parker in the clear? I don't think so, either! In my opinion, this case lies somewhere in between. Alphonso may not be able to claim a clear plagiarism, however, I think he may have a chance to claim copyright violation. Let me show 3 different cases where Jake Parker could have done differently, and be essentially in the clear.
Case 1: Homage
It is no secret that George Lucas' Star Wars is heavily based and influenced by Akira Kurosawa "Hidden Fortress" movie. We know this because George himself keep praising Akira Kurosawa's genius in film making. He willingly admit that Akira Kurosawa's genius is why Star Wars movie is so great, artistically speaking. That's homage.
Could Jake Parker have done something similar? He could have. He could have contacted Alphonso immediately and apologized. Followed by a clear advertisement page for Alphonso to use to advertise his book. If Jake would freely admit that Alphonso's book provides his main inspiration and swing traffic that way, I'm sure Alphonso wouldn't be so upset.
Can Jake Parker do that now? I don't think so. It's been a few weeks now, and there's still no statement from him about the issue. Perhaps he's contacting his lawyers, and was told to change enough materials/details as to avoid plagiarism charge. It's the old derivative/transformative issue. By changing enough details, it changes from derivative to transformative.
Case 2: Licensing
If you look at the movie "Airplane" starring Leslie Nielsen, then you may be forgiven to think that it is based upon the popular airplane disaster movies of the time. What it was really based on is the movie "Zero Hour". I hope I get that right. I saw it on YouTube at one time, but it was so long ago, so I'm having trouble recalling it properly. Apologies if I get it wrong, and please let me know so that I can fix it.
If you compare both movies, then you can see that both have the same plot, characters, setting, and movie beats. How can they get away with it? Easy. Pay licensing. In this case, the producer of Airplane movie pays the license of Zero Hour IP owner to be able to produce their own version.
The same holds true with music industry, too. Look at Weird Al Yankovic. How can he get away with making all his musical parodies? He licences all the songs. So, Jake Parker could have contacted Alphonso Dunn, and asked for license to provide alternative materials based on his work.
Case 3: Co writer
James Cameron's Terminator movie was based on an old TV episode written by Harlan Elison. Both are famous in their own right. If you can imagine, James Cameron was a new player in the movie industry with his Terminator movie at the time. So, he based it off an old TV episode, but neglected to ask Harlan Elison about it. Predictably, Harlan got angry, and with James Cameron refused to budge, the case went to court.
James Cameron refused to settle because in his opinion, enough changes has occurred so that the movie is no longer derivative, but transformative. Unfortunately for him, the studio decided to not bother going to court and decided to settle anyway. Harlan decided to settle for co-writer credit. Presumably, he got some writer's fee money, as well as writer's royalties off the movie.
Obviously, this is an ugly way to settle things, but this can happen if neither Alphonso nor Jake is willing to settle.
So, what's my opinion about it? If I was in Jake's position, I would have approached Alphonso and asked permission to use his material, and either do a homage, license, or give him co-writer credit. I'd be happy to give him some licensing money. In fact, I'm sure Alphonso would have been thrilled had Jake ask him to either provide a summary of his techniques (with proper license), or even ask him to provide a chapter for the book (with proper author credit). Not only this was not done, Jake even refuses to acknowledge Alphonso's work at all!
I'm sure Jake Parker have access to lawyers and maybe they told Jake that he was legally in the clear. However, that doesn't change the fact that Jake hid his sources and refused to acknowledge it. Regardless whether or not what he did was legal, I firmly believe that what he did was unethical, and that I would not be participating in his Inktober any longer.
And as personal note: I have already subscribed to Alphonso Dunn YouTube channel, and that I encourage everybody to do so. He's really a good teacher, and you can learn much from him.
I did not subscribe to Jake Parker YouTube channel, and was not really motivated to do so. But especially now. I think Jake Parker has artistic talent, but the way he does business just rubs me the wrong way, and I'm free to vote with my wallet. I hope Jake will learn enough to be successful in the future, but for the time being, I have other artists to follow.
That's my opinion of the matter.
Posts
