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September 3, 2008 10:14 PM
by Belinda Goldsmith
CANBERRA - Author Stephenie Meyer, writer of the best-selling young adult Twilight books, has put the fifth and final installment in the series on hold in protest after a partial draft was posted on the Internet.
Meyer, the US author of Twilight and its sequels New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, said she had a good idea of how the leak of Midnight Sun had happened as so few copies had left her hands and each was unique.
The novel tells the love story of a human teenager named Bella and her vampire lover, Edward.
"The manuscript that was illegally distributed on
the Internet was given to trusted individuals for
a good purpose. I have no comment beyond that,
as I believe that there was no malicious intent
with the initial distribution," she wrote in a posting
on her website.
But Meyer, 34, said this was a huge violation of
her rights of an author as well as her rights as a
human being as she owned the copyright and had
the say when the book should be made public.
She said musicians and filmmakers also had the
same rights and it was dishonest of anyone to
download material off the Internet and to reproduce
and distribute it.
"This has been a very upsetting experience for me,
but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better
understanding of copyright and the importance of
artistic control," wrote Meyer.
"I feel too sad about what has happened to continue
working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely."
Meyer said the draft that was released on the Internet
was incomplete with messy and flawed writing but she
was making this draft available to everyone to be a fair
and because it added a new dimension to the Twilight
story.
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