During my conversation with her representative, Mr. Blair, he pointed me to Ms. Rowling’s Web site, suggesting that would be the best place to find her response to the RDR Books case and the Harry Potter Lexicon. “You have our permission to quote from her Web site,” he said. I already have that right, Mr. Blair. But thanks anyway

I just read the NY Times article and the statement above jumped out at me. I was wondering if any one who knows more about laws can answer this. I understand the case is in a US court because Steve and his publishers are from the US. We have our “rights” here in the US butI assume that our “rights” are not the same as other countries. Since the HP books were originally published in the UK wouldn’t UK laws apply not US law? I wonder how much US Copyright laws differ from UK copyright laws. Were they trying to publish this book in different countries and how does different copyright laws apply? Lastly, The attitude in the last line of the article-“I already have that right, Mr. Blair But thanks Anyway” is why people around the world think all of us Americans feel entitled to everything. People like Joe Nocera give the rest of us Americans a bad rap.

If this suit is successful, I think it also spells the end of Wizard Rock, or at least “borrowing” the character identities for the band’s names. Jo Rowling is fighting for control over the intellectual property of Harry Potter. I’m still not sure all of us fans completely grasp what’s at stake here. I hope we wake up – the “charity” thing is an attempt by the marketing department to salvage Jo’s reputation. I know we’re young here, but I hope we haven’t forgotten our democratic principles – we’re talking about relinquishing complete control of the intellectual property by the corporation that is now J.K. Rowling. She’s become a corporation – no wonder she can write so effectively about the Ministry of Magic. She’s turning into it. I wonder if she completely grasps the American First Amendment. Warner Brothers is facing serious financial challenges right now (they are in the process of selling off AOL as well as tightening up New Line) – they need to win this case fast. We should think very carefully about the cost of freedom. I am a fan of the Remus Lupins – I think he should be very concerned as well.

zr

I do hope someone responds to my post who knows what they are talking about, although opinions are fine too, because this is really bugging me! It just seems unfair, you know?

Also, Hyprocrite point #1: on the lexicon, there is a copyright… they don’t want people copying “steve’s” work, even though all of “Steve’s” work is just copied from JKR and the HP books and movies. They don’t even allow for highlighting/ copy and pasting.

Hypocrite point # 2: Steve wanted to sue WB for using “his” timeline in the 3rd movie, but essentially “his” timeline, if it was in fact correct (which Steve claims it to be) would have been written the exact same if it was by JKR, or any obsessive HP for that matter. Since he did not decide who was born when, JKR did, his timeline is just another example of him borrowing things that never belonged to him. Which is fine, as long as you don’t go and claim ownership.

I wouldn’t borrow my mom’s shoes, then when she wore them again, yell at her for wearing “my” shoes, and I hope everyone else can see how wrong that would be.

In conclusion… I don’t think I like Steve very much…

Zach, you shouldn’t worry about your fantasy series, unless you are intending to write an encyclopedia about it too. The lexicon has never been a hindrance to Jo’s work, on the contrary it was a powerful tool for the fandom, and for the translators, I might add, and it probably helped to enhance the hype about the series.

I’ve seen many people that are on Jo’s side (not here from this board, but from the fandom) that continued to use the Lexicon, because it is still the quickest and easiest way to remember the name of a spell, or if some Death Eater was in a specific battle or when some event occurred. It helps fanfics, it helps essays, it is a huge help in translation (and I strongly suspect a lot of the official translator sactually used it, because there was a whole group of them very buddy-buddy with Steve in that episode in which Steve published , in 2005, that RAB was Regulus Arcturus Black), it helps everyone that tries to think about the meaning of the series. So, Zach, if someone has the patience to give their work for free for such a long time to all your fandom, you should rejoice, because it will certainly help your books to sell.

TrustSnape, see my previous remarks. Steve will always have a place in this fandom because there is no substitute. Unless you want to try and do something along similar lines (but different, something with a different way of accessing data – that’s where his creative work lies and where his copyright comes from).

Felipe, I know what plagiarism is and what Steve does has nothing to do with it. Even Jo and her lawyers would admit it. Perhaps you should read it.

Rogers, I haven’t overlooked that. On the contrary, that was part of my argumentation. As I said, what Jo touches becomes gold. She has zillions of ways and of money to give to her charities, so the argument that Steve is “stealing” from her charities is just laughably ridiculous. I’d say more, I’d say even that Steve helped the hype and is probably responsible for a much bigger amount of the money she has than all of the money he can get with his book., which, I suppose, won’t sell very much, because not many people are really interested in so much detail. Most of the fans will simply use the Lexicon in the internet or don’t use it at all.

One of the things that irritates me the most in all this discussion is the argument that Steve can’t have any money for all the work he had. 1st because it is preposterous to think that he can work for all the fandom for free, but can’t have money. Why those people that make fanart on commission can be paid and he, that makes a much more useful thing can’t? Why must he work for free? 2nd. because I doubt he will earn much money with this. He is only publishing something that he has given for free for years. Who will buy it? People that buy everything Harry Potter and people that are obsessed and don’t like to read in the internet or that don’t have a reliable internet connection (which happens a lot when you leave North America and Western Europe).

Finally I have to agree with Maven. Steve’s work is not copy and paste, it is a powerful organization of material that has a lot of creative work in it, as all encyclopedias, dictionaries and pages of Google have. that’s called a reference work. It has nothing to do with copying Jo’s work, but referencing it, two completely different things.

st_mel, We are NOT assuming. If you research a little bit back you will see that posted on one of Leaky’s previous posts on this topic, there are copies from the pages of the HP Lexicon (book version) which were used as evidence in court. These clearly show the lack of creative work from SVA’s part. The book is just a reorganization of the facts of the HP world that is up for sale. Can you say COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. Jo and WB have the sole rights to any money made from the sale of any HP encyclopedia that doesn’t include any sort of personal analysis or creative work from that piece’s author.

Michelle, I think WB owns the rights to the story. All merchandizing seems to be going through them as well. So I think that’s how it’s being done in the US courts. No idea how an international suit would work. Anyone?

“Anyone could have created the Lexicon. Anyone could make lists like the ones in the proposed Lexicon book. Anyone. That is why it is not a creative work.”

Exactly,chiara,exactly!! I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m sure there are many of us out there who are die-hard HP fans,who have read each book countless times,made notes,read every quote from JKR that they could get their hands on,etc. If I didn’t have a husband,2 kids,3 dogs,1 cat,and a house to run,I might also have the time to do something similar.

Of course,this is just my humble opinion,I mean no disrespect to anyone.

Oh, Lilyp, you really dont understand. It’s not about how much work is involved. What did Steve do that was so creative? You said his way of organizing the work. Um… hate to be the one to break the news, but Steve didnt create the alphabet. I think the Greeks did (at least the one he uses). A really long time ago. He organized someone elses work in a way that ALL encyclopedias do. Not so much with the creativity there.

Also, as for Jo (or any of us) using the site, there’s no issue there. Jo has no issue with copyright as long as the info is FREE on the internet. Once he crosses the line and begins to charge and make a profit, that’s where his problem is. There’s nothing hypocritical of her giving the SITE (which is free) an award. She’s never given permission to publish for a charge.

What is hypocritical is that Steve has a notice on every page of his site saying reproducing his website in any format is copyright infringement. Maybe he should learn that lesson himself??? (I lol at Michele’s idea: I say we all try to publish Steves work and see how he likes it! Just kidding, Melissa! :-> )

You have no idea what she’s done to date on her encyclopedia, and frankly it doesnt matter. It’s her work, it’s her world, it’s her decision.

And to Alison aka NobleBirth, the problem with the essays/pensive (I have no idea where the pensive area is) is twofold: 1. it was reported at one point that they wouldnt be in the book. So… they dont help his case. 2. If they are in the book HE DIDNT WRITE THEM. So, he’s now taking credit for more peoples work. There’s nothing in the book that’s actually his creativity!

And lastly to Miss L Lanius. You’re right about following the law of the land. Good for JKR/WB that they are the ones in the right, and SVA/RDR are the ones breaking the law.

SVA HAS given insightful analysis before, and I used to enjoy his discussions on Pottercasts. I thought he had a good opinion of it, and he seemed to really love the series and respect JKR. However, things seemed to change after the last book came out. When I heard him criticize the epilogue, among many other things (I think he called it the “crapilogue” or something similar), I lost some respect for him. He turned out like some other people who are disappointed with the way something was written or ended, and therefore seem to intimate that JKR’s writing is terrible because of that. I had never heard him do that before, and wondered what was going on.

Now I think we know. The real issue here is that if Steve wins, we all lose. There are numerous other discussion on the web (including in the Leaky forum) that detail that if RDR were to win this case, then it would become much more difficult for fan web sites and even fan fiction to exist. Very few sites like Lexicon (well, in reality, RDR books) would have the legal/financial backup to be able defend themselves. SVA is just showing how incredibly selfish he is. What I wonder is if he’s getting advice that it’s quite possible that he could win this, because his comments (together with the case in general and what we know about it), make him look really bad. He won’t have a place in the HP world now outside of the Lexicon. That’s just sad.

Maven and Lilyp: Steve Vander Ark is not writing ABOUT Harry Potter, he is re-writing it in an alphabetically organized fashion and re-selling it for personal profit, whereas that profit of a legal book could go to charities benefiting people in real need of money, not greedy Mr. vander Ark and his publishing company.

This case will be decided on the basis of fair use. As Melissa in her fine article, “There is very little talk in this editorial of the merits of the actual Lexicon case or whether the book falls into fair use.” None of rules of Fair Use are how hard the work was. What matters is how much of Jo’s work Steve used, and how much new material he came up with. That is what this case will be decided on.

One of the great things about the Lexicon is that it has almost all of the facts you want in the HP world with no extra comment or criticism. So what makes it a great resource is also what makes it infringing.

Steve used to understand this. In 2005 he wrote “Jo has reserved all publishing rights to her intellectual property, which means that she’s the only one who may publish any book that is a guide or a encyclopedia to her world.” I think he had it right in 2005 and is wrong now!

I can’t believe HP Lexicon, and Steve Vander Ark would take this route. I can see if they worked with JKR to put out an online Encyclopedia. For one, it IS under her control. She dreamed it, created it, wrote it, and worked very hard to bring it to us. She has cared very much about the many thousands of people who read HP, she has I believe stated that she finds it flattering that so many people would take the time to create web sites, conventions, fanfiction base on her story. But she has also made clear, it is her story. Many roads have been made as far as WB realizing that if they work with fan web sites, rather than hammering them with legal moves, they [WB] can extend the following for the product. HP Lexicon can’t believe that they have information that has not already been written by JKR, they can only surmise, assume, etc. The HP Lexicon, and Steve Vander Ark, are “Biting the hand that feeds them”, as it were. I suggest they cease and desist, just chill.

I’m with Jo.

That’s all I’m going to say.

Jo Rowling is a person, not a corporation, and she is fighting for nothing less than the right to keep ownership of her work. The question here is ownership, not labour; you can work at something, like a website, for fifty years and still not own anything in it. Cliff’s notes and study guides are almost wholly prepared on works that are out of copyright. Harry Potter happens to be copyrighted.

JKR is up against people who are, unbelievably, attempting to sue her for breaching their “rights”(!) in Harry Potter, which exist only in their own minds. But nothing is a sure thing in law, and her opponents are counting on an upset to deliver them hitherto undreamt-of riches. If Jo Rowling loses ownership to these guys, it won’t just mean the end of her freedom to continue extending her world as she sees fit. Much worse than that: if the world’s best-selling author can’t secure her own copyright in a case like this, nobody will be able to. This has implications far beyond Potter.

For as much as Steve claims he “loves” this fandom, it’s amazing how he keeps pushing himself further and further out of it. I’m pretty sure no one but his most insane groupies would want to have anything to do with him anymore.