TMCnet News
Novelist Murakami denounces unauthorized release of his manuscripts+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, March 10_(Kyodo) _ Popular novelist Haruki Murakami said in a monthly magazine released Friday that a number of his manuscripts have been put for auction on the Internet and at secondhand bookshops without his permission. In a contribution to the April issue of the Bungeishunju magazine, Murakami discussed details on the auctions, denouncing it as "unlawful trading of original manuscripts." Murakami, 57, a celebrated contemporary Japanese writer, said that among the manuscripts is a handwritten translation of "The Ice Palace" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940). A set of 73 of the manuscript's 400-character pages was put for sale at a secondhand bookshop for more than 1 million yen. In the 16-page article in the magazine, Murakami said he had handed the scripts to a now-deceased editor of the Chuokoron publishing house. "The ownership of manuscripts belongs in principle to the author," Murakami argued. "A lot of my manuscripts have been released and gone missing. They could be considered stolen items, as they were taken unfairly and sold to earn money." Murakami said he had written his work by hand with a fountain pen up until 1988 when he began using a word processor. Chuokoron-Shinsha Inc., publisher of the Chuokoron monthly magazine, offered an apology Friday for the unauthorized release of Murakami's scripts. The publishing house said it has briefed Murakami about its probe into the release and that it will continue talks with the writer. Murakami won his first literary prize for his first novel -- "Hear the Wind Sing" (1979). "Norwegian Wood" (1987), a best-selling novel, is one of Murakami's most noted works. Yoshimitsu Kirihara, secretary general of the Japan Writers Association, said the ownership of handwritten scripts belongs to the author, but in reality the handling of manuscripts differs according to each publishing house. Chuokoron-Shinsha was renamed from Chuokoron-sha Inc. in October 1998 after the mass-circulation daily Yomiuri Shimbun absorbed it. The Yomiuri Shimbun and its group firms were placed under the single wing of Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings in July 2002. |