America's Next Top Information Professional

This morning on Q, Jian Ghomeshi talked to the creators of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. They discussed the role of copyright in this kind of “literary mash-up” — namely, that the creator came up with a list of books in the public domain, and another list of, um, hip stuff like zombies, ninjas and monkeys, and just started drawing lines between the two columns. He specifically said he’s waiting for copyright on The Great Gatsby to expire. Oddly, no one mentioned the role of fair use in all this…I’m curious what potential there is for these literary mash-ups of currently copyrighted works. It certainly sounds like satire to me.

The *other* thing that really intrigues me here is that they’ve marketed this as a Regency romance. During my practicum at Mobile Services in Seattle, I learned a lot about romance novels, and my impression was that Austen really doesn’t fit in the category. Like, regencies may emulate Austen, but she wasn’t really writing romance novels so much as satires of them. While we’re on the subject, my favorite site for reader’s advisory for romances is by far Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Those ladies know their bodice-rippers.