OMG this is still going on. Why has this not been chucked out of court. They are not going to win it’s Jo’s world full stop.
SVA needs to get a life. Sorry but he does.
Also would like to think Mel for taking the time to post and summerize all of this.
This really didnt bring anything new to the party, alot of what was said in these responces we have heard from the people before, and in the case of the lawyers comments at the end, we had discussed and picked at for months now and came many times as a group to similer or the same conclusions.
this is a mucky swamp, but putting loyalty to jk rowling as the sole creator of harry potter aside, how anyone could support RDR seems ludicris. There is something to be said for how JKR/WB/Scholastic/Bloomsbury/Cristopher Little Agency has handled this with clear and diginified responce, where as RDR Books has handled it like snarling cavemen, showing a lack of comprehenstion for the legal rights of authors something a publisher no matter if they are a large publishing house printing hundreds of new titles a year to a small one who might only publish 10 a year should understand strictly for the purpose of knowing how to protect their authors and their publication rights and the rules of fair use and copyright laws meant to keep everything in line.
RDR Books has been highly unprofessonal throughout this higher affair, acting not as adults, or as a legittamate buisness, but often acting childish and immature. they take swips without legittamately defending their statements, which often, they go back on and do a completel 180 degree turn, meaning one of their statements by law can be considered a lie filed to the courts. the Courts job now is to look at how both sides have acted and what they had said in their filings and responces, and decide upon the legality of said statements and actions and make a decision.
RDR Books did nearly exactly what Nancy Stouffer did. Nancy Stouffer forged documents that she would not have a legal right to have to try to prove that jk rowling was a american citizen, and therefore, would have had access to in her words a hugely popular book written by her, nancy stouffer. in effect, she lied to the court and forged documents to try to build her case against jo. now, RDR Books has already lied to the court through their conflicting and contradicting statements in this case, the most prominent being first stating that the lexicon book is not commentary, and that if WB and JKR wants to know what the book is, they should print out the website, then turning around and stating to the courts that the book is commentary and critical anaylasis. something anyone who read through the court documents which included the filings of vast tracks of the lexicon book knows is not the case.
...and WB answers with the death nell for RDR Books and their case.
Go Jo!
Thanks again, Melissa. That’s a pile of work. Great job…and I look forward to the updates.
Is it just me, or did jo take quite a few swipes at steve vander ark and how its hard to see how he can call himself a true fan if he is trying to undermine her and the fans of the series?
She said exactly what she thought and how she felt over this debacle that RDR/SVA have instigated.
I wouldn’t call it ‘swipes’ per se, but its almost like she ‘blog-slapped’ him.
No great sitution indeed. http://community.livejournal.com/deadlyhollow
I don’t know, it seemed a bit like a good strong scolding to me rather than swipes. Just shy of furious rant. My grandmother was a master of them.
“If RDR’s position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine fans on the internet. Authors everywhere will be forced to protect their creations much more rigorously, which could mean denying well-meaning fans permission to pursue legitimate creative activities.”
And there it is folks, straight from the authors mouth (or pen, or computer…) Regardless of our own personal opinions in this case Jo understands better than we do the larger outcome if she loses and she has now put it on record what will end up happening. If she loses this case there goes fanfiction for a start.
It is unfortunate, and when all is said and done if this is the road she has to take, people will hate her but her actions will be completely justified. If she loses, that will be the precedent for many more attempts to milk off her creation. She has to protect what is hers.
oi it lookslike Mr.Vander ark is going to wish he had the Deathly Hallows or maybe a horcrux as it seems he is indeed interms of this case
10. ...feels frustrated that a “former fan” has tried to “co-opt my work for financial gain. The Harry Potter books are full of moral choices and ethical dilemmas, and, ironically, Mr. Vander Ark’s actions tend to demonstrate that he is woefully unfit to represent himself as either a ‘fan of’ or ‘expert on’ books whose spirits he seems entirely to have missed.”
My jaw hit the floor when reading this. What a damm shame it came to this.
(Great news post, thank you Leaky)
And so it is…we finally have the final nail in the HP Lexicon book’s coffin. This is completely devastating for RDR’s case. There’s no way they will survive this.
Another thing that won’t survive? The Lexicon website. I won’t be surprised to see Steve take it down the day after a judgement is handed down.
10. ...feels frustrated that a “former fan” has tried to “co-opt my work for financial gain. The Harry Potter books are full of moral choices and ethical dilemmas, and, ironically, Mr. Vander Ark’s actions tend to demonstrate that he is woefully unfit to represent himself as either a ‘fan of’ or ‘expert on’ books whose spirits he seems entirely to have missed.”
As pointed out by MaraudingDon, this part of the article just wowed me. It’s how I’ve felt about this case and Jo obviously feels the same. I just can’t believe that Steve/RDR haven’t backed down when they are so obviously in the wrong. My opinion of this man is plummeting.
thanks – i’ve been waiting for all this. quite sobering.