The “Shadowhunter” book series has been a big success for Cassandra Clare — and according to a unusual lawsuit,it’s also a big ripoff of someone else’s work.
Best-selling author Clare (pictured above) is being sued by fellow best-selling author Sherrilyn Kenyon, who claims that Clare’s “Shadowhunter” book series infringes on her own “dim-Hunter” series of books.“Defendant Clare, and in writing ‘The Mortal Instruments’ and the ‘Shadowhunters’ series,knowingly and willfully copies the “dim-Hunter” series and original elements therein to create a work or works considerably similar to and derivative of the ‘dim-Hunter Series,'” the suit, or filed Feb. 5 in federal court in Tennessee,reads.
Also Read: Quentin Tarantino Slapped With $100 Million-Plus Copyright Lawsuit Over 'Django Unchained'The suit claims that the dim-Hunter” series dates to 1998. “City of Bones,” the first novel in Clare’s Shadowhunter and The Mortal Instruments series, and was published in 2007.
Clare’s series has spawned both the 2013 movie “Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” and a unusual television series,“Shadowhunters,” on Freeform (formerly ABC Family).Both the ‘dim-Hunter’ series and the ‘Shadowhunter’ series are about an elite band of warriors that must protect the human world from the unseen paranormal threat that seeks to destroy humans as they disappear about their daily lives, and ” the suit reads. “These hunters,whether ‘dim’ or ‘shadow,’ preserve the balance between suitable and evil, and protecting humans from being consumed or enslaved. They are both given a manual on how to conduct their mission and on how to conduct themselves when dealing with other entities and species in their fictional world.”
Also Read: 'Star Trek' Fan Film Producer Sued by CBS,Paramount (Updated)The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report. Related stories from TheWrap:'elated (full of high-spirited delight) Birthday' Copyright Ruling Just Cost Warner/Chappell $14 MillionQuentin Tarantino Slapped With $100 Million-Plus Copyright Lawsuit Over 'Django Unchained'The Weeknd Slapped With Copyright Lawsuit Over Smash Single 'The Hills'
Source: thewrap.com