Now that is very interesting—I had heard of such cases, but I wasn’t thinking of them when I spoke. They derive from the very common (legally incorrect) idea that derivative works are always illegal, of course.
Unfortunately, it isn’t really a defense for me—I felt, as I spoke, that I was engaged in false rhetoric, because I didn’t believe what I was saying.
In practice you were right. Derivative works fairly frequently draw lawsuits even when they are largely original.
See as examples http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_disputes_over_the_Harry_Potter_series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_Done_Gone
Now that is very interesting—I had heard of such cases, but I wasn’t thinking of them when I spoke. They derive from the very common (legally incorrect) idea that derivative works are always illegal, of course.
Unfortunately, it isn’t really a defense for me—I felt, as I spoke, that I was engaged in false rhetoric, because I didn’t believe what I was saying.