Malice aforethought denotes a wanton and even planned act of villainy. To engage in it is to be one of planning, knowing full well that boundaries are to be crossed and injury of some kind will be inflicted. This doesn't necessarily mean that one inflicts said injury as the singular objective of one's activity, but rather that nothing is done in mitigation of its expected effect.
When once an author of Belgian descent set out to write a story, inspired by the the corruption he saw in the financial institutions of America and the political systems that support those financial institutions, he naively thought that the title of his work, and that of others', was a part of their copyright. His title, A Beautiful Heist, chronicled some of the corrupt ways a futuristic organized criminal might acquire a company for pennies on the dollar, and it's villain a mysterious and shadowy almost, if not certainly, supernatural man of timeless age, extravagant taste, and immeasurable power. Could he be brought down by the judge of a court? Would he be made to account for his crimes and be exposed for his own selfish and wicked deeds?
Well, as it would be revealed some two and a half years post of the original, another author seemed to have taken a jealous eye to this man's Title and sought to take it as her own. One might never know the answers to the above questions. as with the help of a publishing house, Kensington by name, this woman did publish her own more Harlequin style of fiction under the same A Beautiful Heist.
This of course puzzled the man, as he had done a long day's search via multiple resources to ensure that he would not take the title of another author's work. This would be a dishonorable and despicable thing to do. It would show a complete lack of respect for the honor and effort of that other author. But of course this is America after all and not everyone grows up under the auspices of an Honor Code. From 8th grade to his graduation from Culver Military Academy, the man lived under the code, "I will not lie, cheat, or steal, and I shall discourage others from such actions." It is the code of a gentleman, it is the code of any person who would claim honor of his or her own. The code was, "Conceived by and for the cadet corps of Culver... with the intention of developing within the corps of cadets, a respect for one's personal honor." That respect is an important thing to the man, and it would seem only as natural that he might expect the same in return.
So, the man found himself in a place undesired. Should he, one man, take on a publishing house in New York City who, it might be expected, should have an army of lawyers at the ready prepared, even licking their chops, to lawyer their way around the theft of another author's title? Would he even have a chance against their Harvard-graduated minds, and experienced scheming? Not to mention that they have the home "court" advantage being in New York City.
With a bit of angst and a sense of irony from the nature of the title stolen, he has fired the opening salvo to what he hopes will be a quick and cordial resolution to the would-be scandal.
Stay tuned, as one can only WISH that this were fiction.
ORIGINAL
OFFENDING
To Be Continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment