Back in 1968, Philip K. Dick wrote a science fiction novel entitled DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP, starring an bounty hunter looking for Nexus series androids, which later became the movie BLADE RUNNER.
Now, in 2010, Google has come out with a phone called the Nexus One based on their Android OS-software / technology. Philip K. Dick’s family feels that hits a little too close to home, so they’ve filed suit against Google for infringement of intellectual property.
According to a letter Isa Dick-Hackett, Philip K. Dick’s daughter, sent to Google regarding their use of those names for their products, she said, “Google takes first and then deals with the fallout later. In my mind, there is a very obvious connection to my father’s novel. People don’t get it. It’s the principle of it. It would be nice to have a dialogue. We are open to it. That’s a way to start.”
It’s not the first time Dick’s family has sued Google. When Google began scanning books into their online database, many writers and their heirs tried to stop Google or at least negotiate better rights. Google ended up settling the case by setting up a fund for the copyright holders, and they also agreed to set up a Book Rights Registry to distribute the revenue.
(Of course, it’s kind of ironic when you consider that the name of the movie, BLADE RUNNER, originally belonged to Alan E. Nourse’s book from 1974. Supposedly, writer Hampton Fancher, who was doing the screenplay for the Dick story, had seen a screenplay story treatment for Nourse’s book, and liked the name, so suggested they use that instead of DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP. Ridley Scott ending up paying out extra to be able to get the rights to the new name. Now if Nourse’s heirs ever do manage to sell their screenplay based on THE BLADERUNNER which has been around since the 70s, they’ll have to get a new name for it. Kind of ironic, indeed…)
In a historic deal that will allow Google to put millions of searchable/printable books online, Google will pay $125 million to settle the two outstanding copyright lawsuits originally filed by publishers and authors.
