Many of you have written to us regarding the Web site for James Potter and the Hall of Elder’s Crossing, which looks remarkably similar to an official Harry Potter Web site that might be put out by Warner Bros. As earlier reported, the site heralds a fanfic written by George Lippert, a 37-year-old Web designer from St. Louis, MO, who wrote the book-length fic for his wife and children and plans to release a chapter a day in December.
Some papers, including The Scotsman, have reported that J.K. Rowling’s representatives are threatening legal action against Mr. Lippert. This is entirely false, and some papers have retracted that information publicly.
Mr. Lippert contacted TLC to tell us the following (which has been backed up by the Christopher Little Agency, the entity that would pursue a legal action if there was one to be had):
“Information regarding any ‘legal action’ on the part of Ms. Rowling is quite false. I sought contact with Ms. Rowling via her agent, offering her an advance copy of the story for her perusal. This was accepted (at least by her agent), and presumably they are currently perusing JPHEC at this moment to assure they have no problems with the content. Additionally, they have assured me that as long as I have no intentions of publishing the book for profit, that it is appropriate for children [no pornography], and that I do not intend to attribute it to Ms. Rowling, they have no problem whatsoever with my free release of the book.“
Again, the Christopher Little Agency also told TLC of the phone call, its contents, the requested provisions regarding the work, and the request to share the fanfiction with J.K. Rowling (though whether it has indeed gone to J.K. Rowling herself is unconfirmed).
Mr. Lippert has said that he’s quite surprised by all the attention to his work and didn’t intend for the story to become so egregious.
I never read fanfic, but I might just read this one if, when it comes out, people think it is good as all the hype has led me to believe.
And kudos to the guy who wrote it by going about things the right way, getting it approved by JKR’s people first. Just goes to show that you really can’t trust the media to get their fact straight before publishing.
Posted by Demetry Carrington on November 21, 2007, 07:05 PM
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there are thousands and thousands of excillent fanfictions out there, with thousands of possitive reviews and even ones that did grab publishers attension for fresh talent. why not check one of them out. they had to ligitamitly work through reputation and word of mouth to get their publicity, rather than one done by a publicity stunt. amanda’s comments were rude but i can understand why some would be irked by this.
What I really want to read is – Christopher Little and the Scripts of Enchantment. Followed by its sequel Christopher Little and the Quest of Rowlings Treasure.
Posted by Professor Potter on November 21, 2007, 07:21 PM
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siyrean, I agree…folks, we finally have some nice news, can we not slide into name calling and ruin the moment?
VVV interesting debate guys. I don’t read fanfic, although I did write one which got a special mention (in the contest in May) . I really enjoyed working with Jo’s world and trying to write within it. I fond it really hard to do well but it was ALOT of fun to immerse myself in it in my spare time.
So I say good luck to this guy, although why he had to publish it online, if it is just for his family…..?
Off topic, but I just wanted to let you know that the catalogue for Beedle the Bard arrived chez moi (UK) today!!! Sadly sadly sady, no new canon that i can make out. Lots of nicely taken angled images of some of her hand drawings, etc but I am disappointed. It’s alittle lerger than the Comic relief books and printed on heavier paper, with lots of Sotheby’s blurb inside regarding the legalities of the auction and bidding process. A lovely photo of Jo sitting in a bay window, holding the book to be auctioned.
Please, let us not “gang up” on poor Amanda….she’s obviously an unhappy person, and would like everyone else to be the same…poor thing! (smiling, solicitously) As for all this…I am thrilled and look forward to reading Mr Little’s creation. What a great Christmas Gift, to his family…and HP Fandom. Thank you, sir. And thank you for showing “how it should be done”. Bravo!
Posted by Confederate Lady on November 21, 2007, 07:45 PM
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Confederate Lady, have you ever kept track of how much time you and I and some others spend asking people to be courteous and polite with one another?
Really want to read this! Looks good! So glad it didnt get taken away, like Lexicon. Lexicon looked good, but the publishers were stupid not sending a copy at least.
I think it’s hilarious he had to ‘submit for approval’ – what fanfic has to be approved now?
Is that only because it looked ‘too real’, and therefore was dangerously close to be confused as an actual HP title?
And what if it wasn’t approved? Would he have been forced to take down the site and NOT get his fanfic out there?
Why does JKR, her reps, WB or anyone else have to ‘approve’ a fanfic?
Posted by the Laughing Man on November 21, 2007, 08:42 PM
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Laughing Man : I agree that the site shouldn’t be taken down, but I think it’s very reasonable to ask for Jo’s permission…
Why???
MAYBE BECASUSE SHE OWNS ALL THE RIGHTS!!! SHE WROTE IT!! I DON'T THINK IT SHOULD BE TAKEN DOWN!! I'M HAPPY IT WON'T BUT I THINK IT WAS CURTEOUS OF HIM TO ASK!! BRAVO!!
Posted by OpenBookTourWinner on November 21, 2007, 08:58 PM
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yay this is exciting.. i cant wait,.. personally i knew they wouldnt mind as long as it isnt for profit because ppl could mistake it for jkr herself because the characters and the settings is entirely all her and it would be plagarism basically and of the reality of the website (( which is awesome!! :D :D )) and the content … i wonder if hes gunna have albus severus potter there too or just start when james first year .. i hope not .. too bad we couldnt have lilly too .. rose and hugo are gunna be soo cute and i could see a minature hermione with a combo of red and brown hair heheh .. who knos they might do a movie but a low budget one
Posted by kaylyn@hotmail.com on November 21, 2007, 08:59 PM
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"You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight, Harry. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it.
Any word from WB? I thought that any problem would be from them, not JKR.
Wonder if someday we’ll get collections of the best HP fan-fic published? with JKR as judge (joined by Melissa and Emerson, naturally!)