Fahrenheit 451, or 9-11, or 666

Ray Bradbury is extremey upset over the title of Micheal Moore's new film, Fahrenheit 9-11, which recently won the Palm D'or at the 2004 Cannes film festival. Bradbury said in an interview:

"Michael Moore is a screwed a--hole, that is what I think about that case," Bradbury said according to an English translation of the story. "He stole my title and changed the numbers without ever asking me for permission."

But there are actually other works that use the Fahrenheit title as well, such as Farenheit 666. Perhaps that book wasn't popular enough to be worth getting upset about, or maybe because it is spelled wrong they just figure the author is a moron and not worth the trouble. If you read the interveiw it seems that Bradbury blames Moore for doing in Wesley Clark's campaign for the democratic nomination for president this year by associating himself with the General, apparently Clark was Bradbury's candidate of choice.

So is this infringement? I doubt it. A book title cannot be copyrighted or trademarked. Also, although it seems that the title of Moore's documentary is a reference to Bradbury's book, this isn't really so clear, it could just be a reference to how upset you'll get when you watch the film. Several articles, however, assume a connection. Bradbury refused to say whether he would take legal action against Moore.

On Moore's victory at Cannes Bradbury said:

"Who cares? Nobody will see his movie. It is almost dead already. Never mind, nobody cares."
Moore's film won the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival last month and is scheduled to hit theaters on June 25.
Of the Cannes award, Bradbury told the paper: "I have won prizes in different places and they are mostly meaningless. The people there hate us, which is why they gave him the d'Or. It's a meaningless prize."

Judging by the sucess of Moore's last film, which made $20 million, and all the hype surrounding Fahrenheit 9-11, the film should be one of the biggest money making documentaries ever. See the trailor here, it's the best political ad this presidential campaign has seen so far. Fahrenheit 9-11 opens June 25th and is sure to spark debate and raise people's temperatures.

Article with interview here.