Pern Copyright Suit In Limbo

Jay A. Katz, a lawyer representing SF writer Anne McCaffrey, told SCI FI Wire that the author of the Dragonriders of Pern series was sued by a leatherworks seller named Steve Austin in a dispute over copyright, but that the case is now in limbo.

"Mr. Austin sought [a declaratory judgment of] libel in the courts of Michigan after serving McCaffrey with a summons and complaint at Dragon-Con in Atlanta," Katz said in response to e-mail questions. "But the case was dismissed because of a lack of personal jurisdiction by the judge, because she was not served in the state of Michigan."

In an interview, Austin said: "There is currently no legal action in the works. But I do have the option of refilling the lawsuit in Atlanta, and if they start screwing with me again, I guess I'll have to do it."

The case revolves around Austin's alleged copyright infringement of designs taken from The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, a collection of artwork based on McCaffrey's best-selling Pern novels. Austin is charged with illegally creating leather items derived from the artwork and selling them over the Internet.

Katz said that in March 1995, Austin wrote to McCaffrey in an attempt to acquire the rights to create items based on The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern. "He was referred to Bill Fawcett, the copyright owner of the book art," Katz said. "At the time, there was no indication that Mr. Austin was going to sell his goods over the Internet in a commercial, rather than a limited fan-convention, environment."

Not surprisingly, Austin sees things differently. "I had conversations with Bill Fawcett, and it was agreed that I would have the license to use the artwork that was in the book to create leather goods based on the designs from the book," Austin told SCI FI Wire. "The only limitation was that I would be limited to one hundred pieces of each item, but that I would be able to change the design slightly and be able to do more editions of one hundred pieces. There was never a limitation on how I could sell these items. They knew at the time of the deal that I was selling on the Internet and that, while I do sell at conventions, the majority of the items would be sold through the Internet."

Austin admitted to having nothing in writing regarding the deal. "I sent a letter to Bill Fawcett confirming the conversation we had on the phone," Austin said. "It was at his suggestion that I send him a check for $1 just to formalize the deal, which I did. I never got anything back in writing from him. But he signed and cashed the check, which, according to attorneys I talked to, absolutely constitutes a contract."

Katz said that in 2001, "Ms. McCaffrey discovered through a company that had acquired the merchandising rights to Pern that Mr. Austin was selling Pern merchandise. She asked Austin to cease and desist. He refused, claiming he had obtained a license from Mr. Fawcett."

But Austin said that in 2001 he was contacted by Alec Johnson, McCaffrey's business manager at the time. "At the time he was in the process of trying to negotiate movie and merchandising deals for the Pern books," Austin said. "The merchandising companies had to have exclusive rights, but they chose not to include me or my deal with Fawcett in their disclosure. When the merchandising company found out about me, they went back to Alec, who, in turn, contacted me and said I had no right to do what I was doing and that, if I didn't stop, they were going to hit me with a six-figure lawsuit. I had an e-mail correspondence with Alec and explained the deal between Bill Fawcett and myself. His response was, 'I don't care.'"

Katz said that Austin is definitely in the wrong. "Mr. Austin is infringing on Ms. McCaffrey's intellectual property rights in her Pern novels by using elements from the novels depicted in the artwork published in The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern."

Austin, who continues to sell Pern-inspired items on the Internet and at fan conventions, feels differently. "I'm not treading on the intellectual property of Anne McCaffrey, because Bill Fawcett made a deal with me, and I've lived up to my end of it," he said. "If they had wanted to be nice about it, they could have bought all my existing stock, given me an honorable mention on the Pern Web site, and it all could have been done with."