Discussion:
I live in Hong Kong
I have a serious question I would like to ask you about copyright infringement against myself on the copyright infringement against my work 'Soul Advisor' now renamed 'Second Sight' by NBC the makers of "Medium".

I realised when the pilot of "Medium" aired for the first time on 1st March 2005. The whole concept was strikingly similar to my theme of my novel originally written in 2001.

In my book the character, a male dreams when he is sleeping about deceased people and his role is to aid these lost souls. At the time the medium came out in 2005, I thought nothing more of it...until recently. You see the other night, February 1st 2007 in Hong Kong, while my wife and myself were watching an episode of the 'Medium' I was shocked to hear the main actor's brother repeat almost exactly some sentences in a chapter of the my book.

Alison Dubois's brother is lying in a hospital bed when Alison approaches him and they talk about her and his psychic ability.

Quote: "So what other super powers do I have? Will I be able to shoot lazer beams out of my ass or leap tall buildings in a single bound?"

And the same from my novel which was written in 2001, 4 years before the Medium aired.

“What third thing would that be? You're not going to tell me that I will be able to leap over buildings in a single bound or shoot flames twenty feet long out of my arss, are you?” he laughed.
This is too much of a coincidence...firstly the theme of the medium and how she dreams things about dead people and things, and then hearing Alison's brother recite strikingly similar words as he lay in a hospital bed.
Can anyone here advise me of my rights in a situation like this.
Yours truly,

Michael S. Fletcher - Alias Fletcher Bailey
Answer:
Why are you not asking your publisher this question?
Answer:
Can anyone here advise me of my rights in a situation like this. Yep. You have the right to contact a copyright attorney to see if you have sufficient grounds to bring a long and expensive copyright infringement suit against them (executive producer, creator and director Glenn Gordon Caron).
Answer:
I did a search on this pen name and book. The only reference I could to it was from 2004, indicating at that time that it was with an agent. I found no references to its publication.
How, then, did the producers of Medium find it?
Answer:
I did a search on this pen name and book. The only reference I could to it was from 2004, indicating at that time that it was with an agent. I found no references to its publication.
How, then, did the producers of Medium find it? Through paranormal powers**************...
Answer:
I live in Hong Kong
I have a serious question I would like to ask you about copyright infringement against myself on the copyright infringement against my work 'Soul Advisor' now renamed 'Second Sight' by NBC the makers of "Medium".

I realised when the pilot of "Medium" aired for the first time on 1st March 2005. The whole concept was strikingly similar to my theme of my novel originally written in 2001.

In my book the character, a male dreams when he is sleeping about deceased people and his role is to aid these lost souls. At the time the medium came out in 2005, I thought nothing more of it...until recently. You see the other night, February 1st 2007 in Hong Kong, while my wife and myself were watching an episode of the 'Medium' I was shocked to hear the main actor's brother repeat almost exactly some sentences in a chapter of the my book.

Alison Dubois's brother is lying in a hospital bed when Alison approaches him and they talk about her and his psychic ability.

Quote: "So what other super powers do I have? Will I be able to shoot lazer beams out of my ass or leap tall buildings in a single bound?"

And the same from my novel which was written in 2001, 4 years before the Medium aired.

“What third thing would that be? You're not going to tell me that I will be able to leap over buildings in a single bound or shoot flames twenty feet long out of my arss, are you?” he laughed.
This is too much of a coincidence...firstly the theme of the medium and how she dreams things about dead people and things, and then hearing Alison's brother recite strikingly similar words as he lay in a hospital bed.
Can anyone here advise me of my rights in a situation like this.
Yours truly,

Michael S. Fletcher - Alias Fletcher Bailey yeah, that is simply amazing considering the fact that they based the show "Medium" on a real person, Allison Dubois who lives in Arizona.
my advice, go back to bed.
Answer:
yeah, that is simply amazing considering the fact that they based the show "Medium" on a real person, Allison Dubois who lives in Arizona.
my advice, go back to bed. Though the character is based on a real person, the actual weekly 'story lines' are created by writers... and it is possible that one of the writers incorporated one of the OP's lines of dialog in that weeks story. The problem is... how does the OP PROVE that one line is from his... and what damages were incurred. For more on the original person, go to:

Answer:
Why are you not asking your publisher this question? The answer is that I never published the book. I am still trying. But I do have documented evidence that the book and the similar line they used in one of their episodes are very similar.
Cheers,
Michael
Answer:
But you haven't explained how they allegedly got hold of your unpublished book to crib from it.
The line is not so startlingly original that they couldn't have come up with it on their own.
Answer:
But you haven't explained how they allegedly got hold of your unpublished book to crib from it.
The line is not so startlingly original that they couldn't have come up with it on their own. Firstly, as with many writers who want to be published, the book has passed many agents, online publishers, book publishers hands, so it could have found its way to them quite easily. You make me laugh when you say it is not so startingly original that they could have hammed this together themselves...Yes and while they were at it they could have chosen the hospital scene as well.
Look, I am not claiming they stole my story, I know that the Medium was based on an actual woman medium. What I am saying is there is a good chance they stole and readapted some of the dialogue and used the location where the dialogue accured.
My character was also having a conversation in the hospital and the other character was explaining what other abilities he would have.
Thanks for your input...but if you are going to be one-sided in your replies please keep your opinions to yourself...thanks
Answer:
yeah, that is simply amazing considering the fact that they based the show "Medium" on a real person, Allison Dubois who lives in Arizona.
my advice, go back to bed. I know it was based on a real person...what I am saying cheese brain, is that they may have stolen some of my dialogue. Hell they may have even stolen the hospital scene where the dialogue occured.: Shakes head.
Answer:
Excuse me, but you don't ask for help and then insult those who give advice. The fact of the matter is that if you cannot PROVE that they got ahold of your material and knowingly copied it, then you can't do one damned thing about it. Capice?
Answer:
You make me laugh when you say it is not so startingly original that they could have hammed this together themselves...
And you make me laugh with your sense of self-importance. Yes, of course you're right, no one but you would ever think of a hospital scene. Did the writers of ER, House and Grey's Anatomy all steal from you too?
I'm sure all the writers from major TV shows are diving into unpublished works to find dialogue. Not.
Come back when you have something real to complain about.
Answer:
You make me laugh when you say it is not so startingly original that they could have hammed this together themselves...
And you make me laugh with your sense of self-importance. Yes, of course you're right, no one but you would ever think of a hospital scene. Did the writers of ER, House and Grey's Anatomy all steal from you too?
I'm sure all the writers from major TV shows are diving into unpublished works to find dialogue. Not.
Come back when you have something real to complain about. Look CBG...of course I am not so stupid to think that I am the only one that can come with a hospital scene. I am however curious as to how the writers at NBC came up with a similar scene in a hospital, using similar dialogue in a similar story, with a similar character talking about the same thing. One coincidence I can accept, two maybe, but three is a bit too much.
If you were the writer and owner of the works that may have been ripped off, you would probably be doing the same thing...or are you above that?
Answer:
Excuse me, but you don't ask for help and then insult those who give advice. The fact of the matter is that if you cannot PROVE that they got ahold of your material and knowingly copied it, then you can't do one damned thing about it. Capice? Occultist, I wasn't expecting smart ass replies. I don't know CBG...I have no bone to pick with him, but for him to comment that anyone could come up with the equivalent of a. The same scene for the dialogue b. Characters using similar dialogue c. The dialogue being used to answer the questions of a similar character in my book is too much...and strike three. You say [quote] I need to prove how they got a hold of the material. Possibly true, but they also need to prove that their writers legitimately put together the whole thing legitimately.
Fact: I have docummented proof that I have a strikingly similar dialogue that was written using a similar hospital scene, with two characters talking about the same thing. This material was originally written in 2001 and put out for publishing in 2002, 3 years before the medium aired. The episode that may have had dialogue used from my book was screened publicly in Session Two. Episode 33. As my book has been through agent after agent and publisher after publisher, I think I am not so self-important to assume that some of my dialogue may have been seen, altered and used.