I would like to thank each and every one of you for your support in recent days. Everyone here at the Lexicon, all volunteers, regrets the unpleasantness. We have always been interested in working with the publishers of the novels to satisfy their concerns, interests and needs and we certainly do not plan nor have we ever planned to publish anything which competes with Ms. Rowling’s fine literary capabilities. Our work has nothing to do with fiction writing and is only concerned with legitimate critical analysis and academic considerations. It has been widely approved and employed by Ms. Rowling herself.
My book was started in response to many, many people who talked to me and asked if there could be a print version of the Lexicon, not in some sort of attempt to profit off of fans. Because the material for the book was not only accepted but praised and used frequently by every entity concerned with creating the Harry Potter books, games, and films, I would never have thought that a print version could be judged differently.
I sincerely hope that this matter can be resolved amicably and ask for you patience and understanding during that process.
Other new details are as follows: Following yesterday’s post which said there was a possibility that essays would be included in the Lexicon, several Lexicon essay writers have publicly said that they were not asked for permission to have their essay reprinted, and some essay writers have been assured by Lexicon staff that there will be no essays in the book at all. We have asked the publisher which is correct and will amend this post if we get an answer.
Update: RDR books answered our query with a lengthy statement that neither confirmed nor denied. We’ve asked for a more direct answer and have yet to receive one.
Update 2: TLC has received word via a reliable source that the initial email to Steve Vander Ark and RDR Books was phrased as an attempt to appeal to the Lexicon’s status as a site favored by J.K. Rowling. It also, according to the source, clearly named Warner Bros. as at stake and called Vander Ark a friend of the series and someone publishers/lawyers/agents were sure did not want to disrupt Rowling’s rights. RDR has called the email “threatening and abusive” and claimed that Warner Bros. only claimed rights after RDR sent them a letter regarding the timeline on the Harry Potter DVDs.
Also in the time since this issue began the book has risen from ranked lower than 230,000 in Amazon.co.uk books, to 7,034 as of this posting.
Update 3: A reader has commented that they ordered the book in the UK, which was slated to have a Nov. 5, 2007, publication date; the order was pushed back to January, 4, 2008, instead.
The Harry Potter Lexicon is a partner site to The Leaky Cauldron. The opinions and claims argued here do not constitute The Leaky Cauldron’s opinion or claim (of which it has none).
This Steve Vander Ark sounds like Harry Potters answer to Ian Levine (a famous vocal Doctor Who fan with an overinflated opinion of his own self importance). I hope this sort of attitude doesn’t spread to other websites, it would ultimetly damage the fandom more than any religious book-burner ever could.
Steve has ONE easy solution, make the lexicon printable from his website…then that would solve ALL of his so called “reasons” for wanting to charge $25 to have a book version.
At this point the Lexicon book is looking more and more like a way to rip off Jo’s intellectual property. He knows any Potter related book will sell very well and make him a LOT of money. Its that simple.
Posted by DracoDaDeatheater on November 05, 2007, 11:33 AM
report to moderator
::Shakes head::
Steve really needs to learn to think before he creates excuses. Basically it sounds like he’s blaming the fans.
I would like to know his reasons for throwing the HP fandom under the bus with all of this! How dare he say its for us that hes doing all of this! Why doesnt he just post a print button, or sell it for free to fans, or donate the money to charity? Hes a joke.
Making profits off her work! That’s what makes me angry. I have no respect for him anymore… His statement says nothing we didn’t expect him to say, and I never thought he would do such a thing. And for all the people who comment that because we take Jo’s side, we are supporting her only because she is our favorite author (how did you put it, defense, that she is our God?), I laugh… cuz if it was your own 17 years worth of writing and creating, you’d be angry as well.
There is a HUGE difference between a free website and a book, Steve! And the fact that you say you did it after many fans asked you to… LOL Wow… We made you do it… It’s our fault, we should never have forced you to go against Jo’s will. We are so sorry!
Balzac and Proust are both dead, and their works are in the public domain. Heck, you can even download entire books of theirs for free online at sites like Project Gutenberg.
JKR, on the other hand, is still alive and well. Her copyrights and trademarks are still very much her own.
Steve should not have posted because he’s merely added fuel to the fire. I’m sure he felt a lot of pressure to say something, but trying to defend the book’s publication on the grounds that his initial motivation was not profit but a desire to give fans what they wanted (i.e., a print version of the HP Lexicon) sounds disingenuous, since there are other ways to give the fans what they want without having to publish a separate book. For instance, reformat the entire website in an Adobe PDF file by using Adobe InDesign or Quark for page layout (that’s what you do when you get the files done for a book printer), and then allow fans to print out 400 pages that could be put in a 3-ring loose-leaf binder. But, no, that would mean that Steve gets no money, but the fans would have the work in printed form. Even now, if you wanted you could print out from your browser the entire contents of his site, but that’d be awkward.
The real problem, the smoking gun, is the posting from the fans with an e-mail from Steve specifically addressing his thoughts on a Rowling reference book, like an encyclopedia. Folks, this is damning evidence, if it was actually sent because it establishes that Steve knew he couldn’t proceed without Rowling’s permission. It appears that the e-mail from Steve is genuine and, if so, could be used in court by WB and Rowling against Steve.
My presumption here is that Steve honestly felt that because Rowling hadn’t objected to his website, and in fact is a fan herself of it, and that others who are officially associated with her use the site as a reference, that he felt she’d embrace the idea of (a) letting him publish it in book form, or (b) working with him to create a synthesized encyclopedia, with his derivative entries spiced up with her commentary. I don’t believe he honestly felt she’d say “no.” But she did, and suddenly that changed everything. Steve was now in an uncomfortable position: either accede to her wishes and get nothing off the book (outside of ad revenue on his site), or go ahead and publish it anyway, and take his chances.
Keep this clearly in mind: Steve has CHOSEN to go ahead with publication, as has his publisher, even after he’s been told to stop. In the end, Rowling was FORCED to sue because all the other alternatives had been explored and proved fruitless.
One poster quoted one entry from the HP Lexicon, which is clearly an encyclopedia entry. It’s just the facts from the book rearranged. There’s no psychological analysis, there’s not insights of character motivations, there’s no discussions about the inspirations about the characters’ names or what might have inspired them. In short, there’s no CONTEXT. The rearranged fictional facts is not original writing; there’s no expression here. It’s dry like toast, whereas Rowling’s entry would be suffused with wit and charm and humour, and would clearly be her fictional “voice” that is distinctly recognizable—the entries in her two charity books (one about beasts, the other about Quidditch) demonstrate that clearly, and that’s what fans REALLY want: more from Rowling, and in her own words.
The issue of “derivative use” is the key one here, and to the extent that the HP Lexicon is derived from her fiction without anything original from Steve … that’s the legal crux of this matter.
In the end, it’s what the judge (and/or jury) thinks. It will be based on legal considerations—not opinion, not intent, and not the personal merits (or demerits) of Steve and RDR Books.
Without Rowling’s novel, the HP Lexicon wouldn’t even exist: If you were to delete every entry that refers specifically to the Harry Potter novels, the HP Lexicon would be a blank page—not one with hundreds of pages.
A clearer case of derivative use I cannot imagine: the HP Lexicon is WHOLLY derived from Rowling’s seven novels and 2 charity books. For him and RDR Books to claim otherwise is legally indefensible and for him to continue to publish in the face of specific requests from Rowling to NOT publish it is morally wrong.
Steve has the power to end this right now. All he has to do is tell his publisher, “No, I’ve had a change of heart. I don’t want to proceed.” But I don’t forsee that happening: there’s too much money at stake (foreign editions, US editions); there’s too much press coverage and media attention being paid to RDR Books (its UK Amazon ranking has soared); and RDR Books wants to be the house that it has the right to publish, and (so far) is willing to take that chance.
What Steve has lost is Rowling’s goodwill, and that is of inestimable worth. The simple fact is that she can shut down his website as well, since it exists ONLY because she allows it. And she allowed it because he wasn’t making money on it (outside the ads). But her copyrights in this matter extend to ALL published forms, including the Internet. It’s by her grace that she ALLOWS the HP Lexicon to exist.
One scenario would be that Steve and RDR Books loses in court, and then Rowling decides to permanently shut this down by forcing the corresponding website to shut down, as well, and post her own encyclopedia online for the fans.
My point here-and it’s a BIG one-is that Steve feels he has the right to his HP Lexicon, but a lexicon (according to the AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY) is: a dictionary; a stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style; a vocabulary. And a lexicographer is: one who writes, compiles, or edits a dictionary.
HP Lexicon is a dictionary of fictional entries from Rowling’s work, and as such is substantially derivative and therefore violates Rowling’s copyrights.
Had Steve given this a lot of thought, after Rowling turned him and his HP Lexicon down, he would have been better off to accede and then suggest alternative projects within the guidelines she (and copyright laws) permit, and she would have been a willing advocate and supporter—instead of a plaintiff in court.
Steve’s statement regarding his lawsuit has taken away all respect I’ve had for him. On a positive note, if he doesn’t get the opportunity to profit from his Lexicon book (which he shouldn’t be able to) he might have a career in politics!
He claims that he is doing this for the fans and not for profit. If that is true, why did he quit his librarian job (as was previously reported)? If he truly has the fans in mind, and not his own profits, why not dedicate all profits to charity?
This is a chance to profit here, plain and simple. Steve has done a lot for the Potter fans but in this case he is taking advantage of the fans sympathy and J.K. Rowling’s property.
Sorry, Steve…go back to your day job and earn your money with dignity and honor.
This is funny. First Melissa suddenly flips around on her opinion of Laura Mallory – because she’s writing a book on harry potter fandom…and now Van der Ark thinks his site is a critique on HP and filled with academic insight?!
Let me get this straight – those of you who are tearing Steve to shreds (despicably) – you NEVER use the lexicon? Ever? I just want to make this point clear. Because if it’s just an easy peasy matter of reorganising material and he doesn’t deserve a penny for the effort – it would have to be worthless, right?
Also, he’s not done any WORK (definition: productive or operative activity, exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor) according to you? He’s just taken excerpts and then printed them under different headings, is that what you’re suggesting? He’s not elaborated, conjectured on any of it? Just lifted parts of the books and then shuffled them around?
I think this is all messed up and JKR doesn’t NEED to sue but she’s suing anyway. That’s my opinion. You guys are entitled to believe Steve is wrong but there’s no need to verbally abuse him or to tear into anyone who says anything supportive of him.
linden swallow, please, PLEASE give me ONE example of just a successful author who HASN’T allowed fans to have fan websites, fan fiction, fan art? I’m so confused as to why people keep bringing this up as a sign of JKR’s generosity. She’s not exactly set a precedent here.
Loopy—First off, no. I don’t use the Lexicon. I use the Harry Potter Wiki, which I consider a superior source. Plus, they’re not trying to cash in on JKR’s books by publishing a $25 book “for the fans”, so that’s another point in their favor.
Second of all, yes, Steve’s done a lot of work on his site, but the simple fact is, JKR and WB’s copyrights and trademarks take precedence. He’s not entitled to publish his site in the form it’s in because it’s a massive case of copyright infringement. JKR and WB have to sue in order to protect their interests. It’s just that simple. Jo created the HP world, its characters, and its stories. She’s absolutely within her rights to protect her property from what she considers improper use.
No one asked him to create the Lexicon. And the Lexicon itself wouldn’t exist without JKR’s work in the first place. So no, I don’t think he should be allowed to profit at all from this.
I agree with you a lot on this when you say that people shouldn’t abuse Steve. But I still have problems with it. Steve worked a lot on the Lexicon, and he put in tons of effort I’m sure. But for him to ignore J.K. Rowling when she (or her lawyers) request that he not publish this book? It means he doesn’t respect J.K. Rowling’s wishes, in my mind. Maybe he’s not even calling the shots anymore, and it’s just his publishing company. But they have made some really terrible moves either way, and I think it’s really idiotic of them to stand up to J.K. Rowling in this manner.
The book itself appears to be a printed verson of the Lexicon. So, why not put a print button on the web site? And as for the children who can’t use the internet for this? Does he really think they can afford a book like that if they don’t have a computer? His whole aruement is weak, I’m sorry to say. If he comes out with some sort of “I’m sorry” thing, and drops the lawsuit against WB, I could quite easily forgive him. But if he continues it, and publishes the book, I know I won’t be buying a copy.
"Awfully sorry, boys, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book --"[br]Harry reached his wand just in time. Lockhart had barely raised his, when Harry bellowed, [i]"E
This Steve Vander Ark sounds like Harry Potters answer to Ian Levine (a famous vocal Doctor Who fan with an overinflated opinion of his own self importance). I hope this sort of attitude doesn’t spread to other websites, it would ultimetly damage the fandom more than any religious book-burner ever could.