I really dont believe that WB and Jo are fighting this for the money, law is about precedent. By allowing HPL to be published they would set a precedent that would strongly restrict the ability to protect much of the copyright in future maybe more hostile situations.
Uggh…I thought it was more the publisher but now it seems to be just as much from SVA…I really hope this turns out well….
I’m baffled that some people can believe that Steve Vander Ark deserves to make a profit because he ‘worked really hard’ on the Lexicon.
It takes a lot of time, planning, and effort to successfully stage a bank heist, as well. That doesn’t mean that anyone who manages to accomplish such a feat deserves the money he gets from it. The comparison may seem extreme or unfair, but I don’t think it is. Any money that Steve Vander Ark would make from the sale of the Lexicon book is not his to legitimately have, regardless of how hard he worked to get it. It isn’t a question of who has what money. A penny, a pound, a million dollars, it does not matter: he would have no legitimate claim on it.
No one creates fan sites, or fan art, or fan fiction, because they expect to make a profit. No one made Steve Vander Ark work on the Lexicon. He chose to, of his own volition. I’m sure it took a great deal of time, effort, and dedication, but he provided it knowing that he would be doing so for free. This was his choice. He doesn’t deserve money for doing something no one required him to do. I, personally, spend an inordinate amount of time surfing the internet, which eats into the time I could be using to do something else. This is my choice. I don’t expect anyone to compensate me for it, when I could just as easily be doing something else. Steve Vander Ark could just as easily have chosen to do something with his time that could have lead to a profit. He didn’t.
If you work very hard for the company that employs you, that is commendable, but it does not mean that you own the company. If you work very hard for the Harry Potter community, that is commendable, but it does not mean that you own Harry Potter.
Just to throw in again that we really should not be talking about either SVA or JKR, but rather about their attornies…I think that is the point that James K was trying to make as well. What we will hear next will be from RDR’s legal representatives…
When is the deadline for RDR’s defence submission? And will Melissa regain her breath after today’s marathon to start her press-ups for the next round? We shall see
To the posters claiming they would love to have a copy of the Lexicon Book – you do realise it doesn’t contain any information from Deathly Hallows and Jo’s recent interviews? Judging from the website, it’s not even HBP-compliant.
Is it me or is SVR site gone?
Posted by Magic What? on January 17, 2008 @ 02:45 PM
I just checked and it’s still there.
Does anyone else actually think that the Lexicon is really that great cause I don’t. The effort put into this site is far superior.
Professor Potter: The current schedule is that RDR have to respond by 5th February, WB/JKR can respond to the response by 15th Feb, and the matter goes to court on 28th Feb.
Rach said “Does anyone else actually think that the Lexicon is really that great cause I don’t.”
I wouldn’t say it’s the greatest, but I will admit I’ve found it handy. I use it most often when I’m at work (and therefore, naturally, do not have my books with me) and me and coworkers are having one of our (many) Harry Potter discussions. So as you can imagine a ‘print edition’ (not that I would ever buy it since I feel what SVA is doing is wrong) would be of no use to me.
As for the situation, I’m one of those that’s been on WB’s/JK’s side from the beginning, especially with those ‘smoking gun’ emails of SVA’s being reported. I know it’s been said we should keep SVA and JK out of this since it’s more their lawyers and RDR books that are really in it, but clearly SVA knew and acknowledged that publishing a print version of the Lexicon was wrong and illegal. Something clearly changed between that email and now, from what’s visible, I agree with those that say it seems like SVA got rejected in terms of the job offer and almost said ‘screw you’. Now am I claiming that’s what happened for sure? Of course not, as has been pointed out we don’t have all pieces of the story. But the evidence that has been presented (and with some of that evidence coming straight from SVA) seems pretty damning to RDR books’.
I too am also confused by those still supporting the Lexicon in the sense that it should be published and still insist that if WB/JK win that it’ll be the end of the fandom, while I think it’s been pretty clear that RDR winning is what’s going to hurt the fandom (and not just of Harry Potter, I think) in general. Like many have said, RDR winning will result on a much harsher crackdown on fanwebsites (and that’s if fansites are allowed at all).
To those saying that the Lexicon will in no way compete with “The Scottish Book”, if the publication of the Lexicon results in just one person buying it and not buying the Scottish Book, that can be counted as a loss of profits for JK. True, hardcore Harry Potter fans are going to know the difference, but again (as has been stated, and I apologize for repeating), people who may not be the biggest fan of Harry Potter and are looking for a gift for their obsessed friend/daughter/son/sister/brother/niece/nephew/grandaughter/grandson/etc. may not recognize or be aware of the difference. And given the lack of disclaimer and the misleading quote from JK on the back would make it even more confusing.
I hope this made sense, and I apologize for rambling a bit, it’s been one of those days at work where my brain never actually turned on this morning. After just reading what Leaky has posted, I’m fairly confident that RDR is going to be royally hosed by the end of this.
Even on the Lexicon SVA has ALWAYS said
“Please take note of the following. None of us is JK Rowling or has any connection with her in any way, shape, or form. We don’t know how to contact her, so don’t bother asking. We do know that Jo visits the Lexicon on occasion to look up a fact, which delights us more than we can even express. However, we can’t get messages to her or pass along your emails. We are not associated with Warner Bros. or Scholastic or Bloomsbury or any of the other official Potter entities. We’re just fans; that’s all.”
Why did he have to muck it up?He is already making $ from the fruit of his labours! I know for a fact he has traveled quite a bit and has been very well compensated for his lectures, more than any other Potterite I know .I was a huge fan of his until I saw him at Sectus in London last summer- I figured there was something up then, he ,well, lets just say reverting back to my high school days- acted like a “Sosh” you know the type, with the “I’m better than all of you ” attitude. Maybe it was a change in his personal life or because he was prepping the book. I will continue to attend all the HP Fan events but I will not go to see him- Besides he has said the same thing at the last 4 events.
This just makes Steve sound even more greedy. I feel strange, because he has always been such a big part of the fandom, but he and RDR are being idiots. I side completley with Jo.
Thank you thank you thank you a million times, Melissa! bows to the awesomness that is TLC webmistress
Looks like we won’t hear Steve’s voice on Pottercast all too soon again.
I must say I still am not sure what to think – but I confess I haven’t read much of the info by now.
MD on page 6 found a link to a far superior lexicon like site which is very Wikipedia in layout. It had a link for random fact and my first click was “the battle of hogwarths” which is an awesome entry. what’s good about this is that every key charcter or item is hyper linked. There is also JK Rowling excerpt links back to TLC!
There is so much conclusion-jumping here, it makes me feel ill. I strongly recommend that the people who have been automatically assuming the worst of SVA read some of his posts over at the Lexicon’s “What’s New” section, particularly the November 10, 2007 and the December 20, 2007 entries, and the comments to the 12/20 post.
Once lawyers are involved, part of their job is to make the other side look as bad as possible; to that effect, WB’s lawyers are doing their job. You don’t have to lie like Rita Skeeter to warp someone’s words against them.
We don’t know what Steve’s intentions were with Floo-related sales. Maybe he asked for a higher cut on those sales so he could share it around as advertising compensation, but never got to that stage of talking to the other webmasters about it – it’s been a busy year, in too many ways.
I commend Melissa on taking a neutral, wait-and-see approach.
My guess (and it is just a guess) is that Steve didn’t get word on the denial of permission from JKR until his book was in RGR’s hands, by which time his hands were contractually bound. A lot of people seem to be criticizing him for not defending himself, but I am sure that his silence is at the request of his lawyers. For now, I’m still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and I hope that it gets hammered out soon.
And, if it really counts, I don’t care one way or the other if Steve’s book gets published or not. I just wish people would stop the personal attacks, especially since none of us knows enough of the story to truly judge anyone involved. Let the courts work out what’s legal, and stop assuming that has anything to do with right & wrong, or that each side must be one or the other.
Hey Morten K. I was fairly sarcastic with my first post but now I owe you an apology. I see now how easy it is to get carried away ;)