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.
@ laughing man “You are wrong, sir!”
JKR can have fanfic sites removed for copyright violation. Legally, she has that right. You can hold any opinion that you want but it doesn’t change the law. That is one of the reasons her suit against RDR is generating interest outside the HP community. The ruling could have far-raching effects in fanfiction.
I absolutely abhor fanfiction (big Deleterius fan) but I’ll read this one.
Happy Thanksgiving to the Yanks. Good day to everyone else!
wondering: of course she can-that's my point. Technically, all fan fiction IS a violation of copyright. I'm sure every1 has seen those warnings the end of movies & the beginning of books that mention ‘all names places events, etc.’ are copyrighted. Which is, technically, why even elements like wizard rock also would be subject 2copyright laws as well.
All I’m saying is this latest news could have some interesting side fx.
Posted by the laughing man on November 22, 2007, 05:37 PM
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Why’s everyone so excited about it? It’s just another fanfic. There’s thousands of the things around.
We presumably have a wide range of reasons for our interest. In my case, as well as some others who have been posting in this and related threads, its because of an interest in the copyright and intellectual property issues involved. The key tho is that any legal decisions that could potentially emerge from the sad situation surrounding RDR and WB -or if a problem developed around Lippet’s site—might have an impact in other areas of print and online publishing, as well as possibly in the fair use clauses of copyright law. Or, to put it another way, the issues go far beyond anything to do with the HP world. There have been other legal cases (not involving fiction or film) in recent years that will impact how information is (or is not) available, materials for educational purposes, software development and other areas as well. So, amazing as this may sound, the bigger issues dwarf anything connected with HP ;)
Laughing, an olive branch, or at least a drumstick. Look, you’re intelligent, that shows; you write well. That’s why I read your contributions so closely, looking for ideas or insights that could/would further the discussion. The entire copyright (etc) situation is more complicated than you credit, I think. But, I would welcome thoughtful and nuanced postings that examine the available information to push our understanding to a higher level.
Still, it does appeal to my awful sense of the universe to imagine sending every scrap of fanfic (etc) into WB.
sorry for the strike through….here’s that last post again with all empahses removed
ChrisB,
We presumably have a wide range of reasons for our interest. In my case, as well as some others who have been posting in this and related threads, its because of an interest in the copyright and intellectual property issues involved. The key tho is that any legal decisions that could potentially emerge from the sad situation surrounding RDR and WB -or if a problem developed around Lippet’s site—might have an impact in other areas of print and online publishing, as well as possibly in the fair use clauses of copyright law. Or, to put it another way, the issues go far beyond anything to do with the HP world. There have been other legal cases (not involving fiction or film) in recent years that will impact how information is (or is not) available, materials for educational purposes, software development and other areas as well. So, amazing as this may sound, the bigger issues dwarf anything connected with HP ;)
Laughing, an olive branch, or at least a drumstick. Look, you’re intelligent, that shows; you write well. That’s why I read your contributions so closely, looking for ideas or insights that could/would further the discussion. The entire copyright (etc) situation is more complicated than you credit, I think. But, I would welcome thoughtful and nuanced postings that examine the available information to push our understanding to a higher level.
Still, it does appeal to my awful sense of the universe to imagine sending every scrap of fanfic (etc) into WB.
budb – drumstick accepted! Yes I suppose your right copyright is a many complicated thing. That’s the great thing about forums people can discuss alternating opinions! I guess do sound a bit like chicken little.
Anyway, it will be interesting to watch new developments.
Off to eat a turkey!
Posted by the laughing man on November 22, 2007, 08:19 PM
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wow, I was reading through these comments, and I can’t believe how mean some of you were to Amanda. She has a right to her own opinion, and here you go attacking her with malicious comments. Do none of you see the hypocrasy in saying (quite rudely) she shouldn’t say things about him when she knows nothing about who he is, and then you go saying things about HER?
Even those of who are supposedly “defending” her cough cough Confederate Lady. I especially loved your comment: “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)” Who’s making assumptions now? And Budb, I don’t see how you can read that and think she’s “asking people to be courteous and polite with one another.” confederate lady, that is quite possibly the most hypocritcal (not to mention ironic) statement I’ve ever read. how would you feel if I made the same assumptions about you based on the pathetic amount of information i could gather? I’m inclined to say that you are a southern older woman, (maybe you have some kids based on the “motherly” tone in your commnet)who probably tells people she’s not rascist (you read HP, after all), yet your high opinion of the confederate flag would suggest otherwise. But that WOULD be making assumptions. have a happy thanksgiving everyone, HA
“Let me ask you something: What previous work was there that made you want to read Harry Potter?”
word of mouth. the hype around the HP series kept me from reading them for many years because i don’t believe in reading what mainstream media tells me too. if my respected friends who’s opinions i value on the other had recomend them… well then i decided they were worth looking into.
“For those of you asking then why doesn’t every fanfic have to be sent for aprroval, how many fanfics do you know that are the size of a full-length novel that have a website?”
many prolific and established fic writer in the fandom have their own websites to host their work since they are popular enough to get thousands of hits
no i just have my priorities. after all, there are hundreds of fics out there i haven’t read yet that do meet the criteria i specified. maybe once i’m done looking through those i’ll glance at the reviews for this to see if it’s worth my time.
"If you still believe that the story is going to be terrible and you won’t read it because we have no backround writing from this guy, fine. BUT, why not read the first 2 chapters and then decide. Because you are making conclusions about the story when you haven’t even READ it yet."
“It’s like people wanting Harry Potter banned when they haven’t even read it yet. DONT JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER (or website or whatever).... (wow that was a cheezy line.) Just read it before you critize it!”
not critizising, i just beleive there are a lot more authors out there deserving your readership that have worked to earn it.
yeah budb, i was just being flippant with that comment about needing approval since some people seem to be freaking out about it and its “possible implications”. blast the internet for it inability to detect personal humor.
“BUT, why not read the first 2 chapters and then decide. Because you are making conclusions about the story when you haven’t even READ it yet.”
no i just have my priorities. after all, there are hundreds of fics out there i haven’t read yet that do meet the criteria i specified. maybe once i’m done looking through those i’ll glance at the reviews for this to see if it’s worth my time.
siyrean: “so in the end, why do all of you, who never typically read fanfiction, plan to read this over someone who meets all the criteria above?”
I share totally this question. Why? As had been said, there are thousand fanfiction in the Internet Word, and being a graphic site designer (or havin the help of one) doesn’t say anything about writing talent.
That would-ne-author has a great talent, yes, in subverting ways of fandom! He has got himself a huge and free popularity, taking the short ride (the mediatical one), thus escaping the long and obscure path of notoriety in the fanfiction fandom.
What to think about him? For the moment, I don’t sympathise at all! (Hum… somebody says, Gilderoy… ?).
But if there is talent (recognised by real critics), I would try by myself, reading some lines first, as I do in bookhops or on the fanfiction sites.
Can i just ask about copyright laws. If I made my own harry potter t-shirt with like a harry potter quote on it, would that be legal and could WB and Jo sue me?
meera you’re fine, relax. the problem would be if you tried to mass produce the shirts and sell them. 99.9999999…% of the time copy right (etc) issues never effect individuals making unique items for their own use. The only case I know of was about 10 years ago, when some idiots at Disney made a decision that preschools and other small businesses couldn’t use Disney cartoon images as decorations without paying a fee; stupid lawyers, they had to backtrack fast when they realized bad Disney looked for forcing preschools to paint over pictures of Mickey and Goofie!
i do want to get one of those “Don’t Judge a Book by its Movie” shirts….
I think that the only problem WB/JKR Lawyers might have had with the website was that it lacked any obvious disclaimer that it an official site (the need for a rumor debunking attests to this fact). Realizing this, the author decided to make sure everything was ok copyright wise. As far as we know, WB/JKR lawyers did not ask to review the material.
I don’t think that any of the online fanfics or other websites are in danger though. Some are pointing to the Lexicon issue as proof that it is. However the Lexicon issue has to do with a PRINT version of the Lexicon. The difference between print and on-line is huge, because the law is still developing about how online copyright should work. The Lexicon is also different because, for the most part, it is just a rearrangement of the facts in the HP books. Fanfic is not, it is using the HP materials in a creative way to make something completely new. In fact, as long as this guy used disclaimers, he could probably print Elder’s Crossing, sell it, profit from it, and still be just fine legally.
The advirtising is also a non-issue. Well known, ALREADY APPROVED HP sites containing fanfic use advirtising.
Sorry for the rant, I was just kind of getting fed-up reading some of the comments in here.
Fossil, I feel I have to comment and clarify your point about the Lexicon.
“it is just a rearrangement of the facts in the HP books.”
Actually, there’s more to the Lexicon then just rearrangement of facts, in the book chapters summaries alone, there are observations and readers guide comments about what is unfolding in the books. This disingenuous ‘rearrangement of the facts’ rationalization that has crept up to defend JKR legal circle diminishes unfairly a lot of hard work by those people who work on that site. I stand by every statement I have made here in my previous posts. Ms. Rowlings handlers can continue to pursue an adversarial approach to the on-line community, or not. It’s their choice. They can also continue to be inconsistent, due to the flattery of one person who approached them over a fan fiction, who get’s unwarranted attention for an unofficial blessing, compared to all of the other fan fiction writers and fans who run HP websites, that never get any recognition from the public or JKR’s circle. Which again is the choice of JKR’s handlers, but the spirit of much of the points in her books seems to be getting forgotten and lost, by others and her.
Annia, you made a great observation by mentioning Lockhart in comparison to Lippet.
Having said all of that. I really do hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving, that is everyone on American soil, as well as everyone else had a great weekend.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," he said.[br]"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley... and I thought your fa
@ laughing man “You are wrong, sir!” JKR can have fanfic sites removed for copyright violation. Legally, she has that right. You can hold any opinion that you want but it doesn’t change the law. That is one of the reasons her suit against RDR is generating interest outside the HP community. The ruling could have far-raching effects in fanfiction.
I absolutely abhor fanfiction (big Deleterius fan) but I’ll read this one.
Happy Thanksgiving to the Yanks. Good day to everyone else!