Possible case of copyright infringement
The TV movie was very good, and the book that it was based on was excellent. Both featured the Delany sisters, and their family in a positive way, showing that you can overcome obstacles such as racism, to achieve your goals in life.
I have recently read the book which, of course, contains more details than the movie did, about the lives of the Delany sisters and their family, and noticed some similarities between some of the individuals and circumstances in the book, with those featured in an old episode of Cold Case that I first saw in 2011.
The episode is called "The Letter", written by Veena Sud, and originally aired during the first season on January 25, 2004. It could be argued that these similarities are instances of copyright infringement on the part of the writer/producers of Cold Case. Here are the things that I noticed:
Having Our Say (book published in September 1993, tv movie first aired in April 1999):
1) Sadie Delany was a light-skinned black woman born in Virginia, whose real name was Sarah. She moved north in search of better employment opportunities. (page 10)
2) The Delany sisters have a great-aunt named Blanche. (page 43)
3) The sisters have a brother, Manross Delany, who was named after Mrs. Manross, a teacher that was a friend of the Delany family. (page 74)
4) Bessie Delany had a pet pig named Retta. (page 80)
5) Sadie and Bessie Delany lived in an apartment in New York City with their sister, and two of their brothers. Not knowing that they were all siblings, some of the neighbors mistakenly believed that the Delany sisters were "entertaining" the two men as prostitutes, and that they were running a "fast house", or brothel. (page 143)
6) Sadie Delany created a candy business and the candy was called "Delany's Delights". (page 169)
7) As an adult, when Sadie Delany moved to New York, she frequently sent her mother letters because she missed her. (page 264)
Cold Case - The Letter (first aired on January 25, 2004):
1) Sadie Douglas was a light-skinned black woman from Virginia. She has a granddaughter named Sarah. She moved north in search of better employment opportunities.
2) There is a character named Blanche that lives in the same boarding house where Sadie Douglas lived.
3) There is a character named Manross Delaney that is involved with Blanche, and has a crush on Sadie Douglas. Manross is an unusual first name for a person.
4) There is a character that is a 10-year-old girl named Arletta. Not exactly the same as Retta, but similar.
5) Sadie Douglas was mistakenly believed to have been a prostitute, since the boarding house where she lived was inhabited by black women that were working as prostitutes. The boarding house was considered to be a brothel by some.
6) Manross Delaney has a candy business and the candy is called "Delaney's Delights".
7) Sadie Douglas frequently sent letters to her daughter back in Virginia because she missed her. Although, Sadie dictated the letters to Arletta so that she could write them for her, since she (Sadie) couldn't read or write.
The similarities from the episode that stick out the most for me is the character named Manross Delaney, because it is an uncommon name, and his candy business called "Delaney's Delights", which was detailed in the book, as well as some of the similarities between the two Sadies.
The photographer that took pictures of the Delany sisters for the book is named Brian Douglas, which is perhaps how the surname Douglas was chosen for the character of Sadie in the Cold Case episode. Also, the story in the episode takes place in 1939, which is the year that Hubert, a younger brother of the Delany sisters, was an attorney and advisor for the singer Marian Anderson, who was prevented from singing in Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because she was black.
There are also some differences in the stories of the two Sadies. Sadie Delany was college educated, didn't have children, and lived to be 109 years old. Sadie Douglas was uneducated, unable to read or write, had one daughter, and lived only to be 25 years old because she was brutally assaulted and killed by a group of men belonging to a white supremacist group.
The story told in the Cold Case episode was very negative, filled with stereotypes of black women, and had an ending that was violent and sad. It is disappointing that there weren't any viewer complaints over the airing of this episode, like there were over the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show which aired one week later where Janet Jackson had her "wardrobe malfunction". I think that the level of violence was unnecessary in the episode, which is frequently shown on the ION Television channel.
In contrast, the story told in Having Our Say was positive, and showed black women as being intelligent and having dignity. I don't think that the Delany sisters would have appreciated having elements of their book being used in such a negative way in the Cold Case episode, or in any other tv show or movie. They would have definately been appalled by the ending of the show, in my opinion. I could be wrong, but it does seem as though the similarities in the tv show is an instance of copyright infringement on the part of the writers/producers of Cold Case.
share