Sunday 23 February 2014

You mean the CD compilations that feature "All new stereo recordings by the original artists!"  Which have something legally complicated to do with copyright, or who owns the masters or something like that, that I feel like I should know and don't, but it's not like I worked in publishing... for two years... oh.

Discovering that Separation II is this bizarre publishing artifact -- the thriller equivalent of putting a new title page on an old book report -- is so cool I wish I wasn't underlining things in my copy in pen, but it's too late to stop now.

It's like Fleming and Thunderball, and stealing from himself by collaborating on a screenplay featuring his characters and then turning the screenplay into a book without acknowledging the screenplay.  Followed by 50 years of lawsuits.

Did anyone tell Rohmer that these things weren't done?  It's not dishonorable, but it's not exactly honorable, either.

On the other hand, if you own the rights to something, you can do what you want, I guess.  And maybe there were Rohmer fans who enjoyed reading the same book over and over, like a visit with an old friend, or the later Rocky movies that contained up to 25% montages from earlier Rocky movies.

And what do you expect for $3.50 ($1.75 with Wintario HALF BACK).

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