Kulturkampf

[HaughtyFrank]

https://bsky.app/profile/jamellebouie.net/post/3ljpnrz2h5c2i

Many such cases

[D3RANG3D]

[Potato]

Romance publisher yanks book after controversy over pro-Elon Musk lines in novel

Sparrow and Vine, published by Bloom Books, was set to be released in April, but the book — as well as the series it’s a part of — have been withdrawn in the wake of the backlash, the publisher confirmed to The Independent Tuesday.

Social media users have focused on two specific lines from the book that were spoken by the main character, who the author said was supposed to be “flawed.” Although her publisher recommended removing those lines, she kept them in, she said in an apology.

“I was inspired by Elon Musk. I use his five step design process,” reads one book snippet circulating online.


In another controversial line, screenshotted by social media users, Lark wrote: “I don’t want to sound ignorant…But shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?”

One TikTok user said: “Sophie Lark’s new book seems to be MAGA coded.”

A Reddit user also remarked: “I'm sorry but with the current political climate, these types of comments aren't clever or cute and has no place in romance books.”

Another TikToker similarly wrote: “Harmful racist stereotypes in this time and age is wilddd.”

Lark was offered no respite on Goodreads. “You know what we don’t stand for in 2025? Casual racism."

The book is part of an “arranged marriage series about a woman who has to marry a man from a rival family in order for them to secure their portion of an inheritance,” Bloom Books said on its website.


In an apology posted to Instagram Monday, Lark wrote that it was brought to her attention that certain lines in her new book were “hurtful.”

“Reading your messages and hearing your perspectives over the past 24 hours has been humbling, and I want to acknowledge the pain my words have caused. I am truly sorry. My intention was to craft and demonstrate a flawed main character, but instead, I wrote dialogue that read as attacking to a community that I care about very much.”

She underscored that the book underwent a regimented process, including being looked over by sensitivity readers. “During the editing process, Bloom recommended removing these lines, and I made the wrong choice in keeping them. I now understand that impact matters more than intent, and I regret that my words caused harm. Please don’t blame Bloom for my mistakes,” she added.

Lark wrote the book in the summer of 2024 — “a lot has changed in the world since then, particularly in regard to the fate of immigrants worldwide and certain public figures.”

She said she was pausing the book for re-writes “to ensure that my work doesn’t contribute to harm” and vowed start “listening more closely to sensitivity readers” and to take steps to educate herself on “responsible storytelling.” She concluded: “To those I have hurt, I’m very sorry. I hope I can your trust back in the future.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/sophie-lark-author-apology-elon-musk-book-b2709923.html

Still doing this sensitivity reader bullshit? Still giving the job to the most overly sensitive fucks in history?

[DavidCroquet]

I'm thinking about that John Waters quote: If you go home with somebody and they don't have books, don't fuck them. 

But like...what if they have books, but it's these books? 

[Nintex]

"the current political climate"

[Nintex]

[D3RANG3D]

[killamajig]

"the current political climate"

https://thebore.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=15&pid=117797#pid117797

[Potato]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/05/neil-gaiman-asks-us-court-to-dismiss-lawsuit-alleging-and-sexual-assault

Neil Gaiman has asked a US district court to throw out a civil lawsuit accusing him of rape and sexual assault, filed last month by a woman who previously worked for the author and his former partner, Amanda Palmer.

The motion to dismiss, filed on Tuesday, argued that the case should be heard in New Zealand, where the alleged abuse took place, rather than in the US.

In an accompanying statement, Gaiman said that Scarlett Pavlovich, the former nanny to the couple who filed the suit on 3 February, “is a fantasist who has fabricated a tale of abuse”.

Gaiman pointed to screenshots of WhatsApp messages between himself and Pavlovich – compiled in a package along with the motion to dismiss – which the author said “demonstrate, in Pavlovich’s own words, that our relationship was consensual”.

In the lawsuit, Pavlovich claims the abuse began the first day she worked for Gaiman and Palmer on 4 February 2022, when Gaiman suggested that she take a bath in the garden and allegedly sexually assaulted her.

“At no point did Pavlovich say or do anything that led me to believe that she was not a willing participant in the activities,” said Gaiman. His lawyers argue that messages sent by Pavlovich the next morning “demonstrate as much”. The screenshot of one message reads: “Thank you for a lovely lovely night ~ wow x”.

His lawyers also point to messages in which Pavlovich appears to say that the sexual relationship was consensual. When Gaiman confronted Pavlovich after hearing from Palmer that Pavlovich alleged he abused her, Pavlovich responded “Oh my God. Neil! I never said that … Rape? WHAT? This is the first I have heard of this.” In another message two days later, Pavlovich writes: “It was consensual – how many times do I have to fucking tell everyone.”

How has this situation even been allowed to get this far? 

Another career destroyed by someone looking for a payday.

[benji]

[D3RANG3D]

We already had the savior of masculinity!

[Nintex]

[D3RANG3D]

[Nintex]

It's also a blatant copyright violation

All this time they feared Trump but Nintendo lawyers will deliver the kill shot to the DNC.

[D3RANG3D]

I hope this happens!

[benji]

For those who prefer MAGA Twitter to a man who lives in his own filth:

It's also a blatant copyright violation 

[Uncle]

It's also a blatant copyright violation 

...they probably didn't license the smash bros theme, right?

[benji]

It's blatant fair use.

[D3RANG3D]

Nintendo:...Hold my beer!

[Uncle]

It's blatant fair use.

as parody?

so you could post a copy of any music you like as long as you act like a clown in a relevant parodic way alongside it? sounds like a great exploit to get some free albums out there

from what I understand, fair use is never an obvious, open-and-shut case

[benji]

Uh, yeah, of course you can post 20 seconds of music as part of parody. Especially if you're a non-profit doing something politics.

[Uncle]

wouldn't politics make it worse because you're making it seem like the entity who owns the copyright endorses your platform? associating the two in viewers' heads?

[benji]

That's... not a thing?

[Uncle]

That's... not a thing?

it's pretty clearly associated with factor 4, the effect of the use on the potential market

https://copyrightalliance.org/faqs/music-political-campaigns-fair-use/

Looking at this question from the perspective of creators, whose works are often used by political campaigns without permission or consent, the concern becomes how political appropriation of their works impacts the creator’s own right to free expression. During a Congressional hearing on fair use in the context of political campaigns, award-winning Gospel singer and songwriter Yolanda Adams discussed the importance of a creator’s right not to have their speech used to push views or messages they do not support. A song or artist becoming associated with a particular politician, campaign, or political view can adversely affect the marketability and/or value of the original work.

this might be less of a concern with this specific video which seems more parodic in nature, I'm just saying fair use doesn't ever seem to be clear cut

[benji]

I think you should probably be looking for a successful copyright infringement suit over 20 seconds of usage of anything versus trying to use an advocacy organizations claim of what is or is not fair use to try and support Nintex's claim this is "a blatant copyright violation" especially considering there's not a single citation to any court case on that page. Fair Use in the technical sense is a defense, but this wouldn't even rise to needing a defense as it fits under the colloquial version of fair use that means not being a violation in the first place. What's the claim going to be? Nobody thinks Nintendo is endorsing the Democrats this way. I doubt you'd even be able to show that people identify the song as being from Nintendo at all.

[Uncle]

I think you should probably be looking for a successful copyright infringement suit over 20 seconds of usage of anything

not to belabor the conversation but just because fair use is interesting:

https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/cases/

Not a fair use: A television station’s news broadcast used 30 seconds from a four-minute copyrighted videotape of the 1992 Los Angeles beating of Reginald Denny. Important factors: The use was commercial, took the heart of the work, and affected the copyright owner’s ability to market the video. (Los Angeles News Service v. KCAL-TV Channel 9, 108 F.3d 1119 (9th Cir. 1997).)

Not a fair use: A poster of a “church quilt” was used in the background of a television series for 27 seconds. Important factors: The court was influenced by the prominence of the poster, its thematic importance for the set decoration of a church, and the fact that it was a conventional practice to license such works for use in television programs. (Ringgold v. Black Entertainment Television, Inc., 126 F.3d 70 (2d Cir. 1997).)

[benji]

But that kind of stuff underscores why the political usage cuts against it being copyright violation. Politicians never license any of the shit they use and it's not considered commercial when they advertise.

[Alpacx]

[Alpacx]

[Potato]

The follow ups were interesting too