An update comes today regarding the ongoing JKR/WB vs. RDR Books trial. Publisher RDR Books voluntarily withdrew its appeal in the RDR Books vs. WB/JKR
case concerning the publication of an unauthorized Harry Potter encyclopedia. The
publisher is working on releasing a version of the book in question
that complies with the judge's ruling, which indicated that the
original book copied heavily from the Harry Potter books. There was no settlement in the case.
The Christopher Little Agency released the following statement today:
"We are delighted that this matter is finally and favourably resolved
and that J.K. Rowling's rights -- and indeed the rights of all authors
of creative works -- have been protected. We are also pleased to hear
that rather than continue to litigate, RDR have themselves decided to
publish a different book prepared with reference to Judge Patterson's
decision."
Complete trial coverage from Leaky can be found via this link.
Awesomepants. Appealing would have been stupid and wasted money, and I’m SUPS excited that they are going to be releasing a book, but one that complies with what the judge says. After all, the HPL is a great place, and SVA is a great guy, so I’d love to read a published work from the HPL – just not the HPL published, if you understand me.
Sorry, Steve, but I’m looking at the google cached book page for the autographed Lexicon right now. The extra $15 gets you a signature and helps to pay down all those legal bills that RDR Books rang up for being too stubborn to rewrite the infringing book in the first place.
Sorry Sophie, there’s too much damage that has already been done in many camp’s. I’m not forgiving The Cauldron anytime soon for their conflict of interest on this matter, as I have reflected that opinion on Facebook. Personally I’ve moved on, the Potter fandom just isn’t what it used to be, it’s a shame to say, but all things must pass.
I think this is a win/win for the fandom. Steve and RDR can rewrite the book, and hopefully, it meets the standards assigned to it. As others have said, if the book had been written well in the first place, this mess could have been avoided.
Obviously a lot of feelings have been hurt and some friendships have been broken because of this case. It’s really too bad it caused such a massive rift in the fandom.
No, they’re not charging anything for an autograph. The price hasn’t been announced yet, actually.
Posted by Steve on December 04, 2008, 10:01 PM -
Huh? Another untruth? For shame! First we get an announcement that was quickly yanked by one can only assume is RDR, hawking this “new trade paperback book” for $24.95, cached page can be found here: http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:zS-Fa9TmHgMJ:store.rdrbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=62%20The%20Lexicon:%20An%20Unauthorized%20Guide%20to%20Harry%20Potter%20Fiction&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca
And then the pièce de résistance:
The Lexicon (autographed first edition)
$39.95
TO BE PUBLISHEDJANUARY 5, 2009.
The cached page can be found here:
http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:EeajSE5DmdkJ:store.rdrbooks.com/index.php%3Fmain_page%3Dproduct_info%26products_id%3D67+The+Lexicon+(autographed+first+edition)&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
So…let me get this straight. He changes the book to comply and you still tear him down? Nice, guys. He wasn’t a defendant. Yes, he had a choice in attempting the publish the book, but was told that it would be ok, he may have made what in hindsight is a poor decision, but he can’t change that.
If I recall correctly many people said “I’d support him if he changed the book!” and he did and now you still harp on him, and tear him apart. Way to be mature and take the high road. For those shouting about untruths I wouldn’t be throwing stones in that nice glass house you have there.
He was a player. He’s a big boy and he knew exactly what he was doing which is why he got himself indemnified from being a party to this lawsuit. That’s why he wasn’t named as a Defendant. He can’t change what’s happened, you’re absolutely right about that, nor will he be able to change a lot of people’s harsh opinions of him either. Here’s the thing though. He could have put a stop to this MONTHS ago, and didn’t.
I never said I was nice or played well with others, either, or that I’d ever support him in any endeavor, much less in actually writing the book so that it didn’t steal another person’s work.
As for untruths, well, really, if that WAS Steve then yeah, he denied something that was proven untrue. Those cached pages come from RDR Books online store, the publisher for the now lawful version of the Lexicon.
I can guarantee you that there is no plan to charge $15 extra for an autographed copy. There is also no finalised press release, for that matter, and I would know. So whatever you have there isn’t the real thing — maybe it’s an early draft or something, But I can promise you that there is NO plan to sell autographed copies that way.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"[br]
"UP!" everyone shouted.[br]
Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but it was one of the few that did.
That’s $15 on top of the $24.95. For a total of $39.95. And is that paperback or hardcover? It doesn’t say.