‘Cendali showed an e-mail from Vander Ark to the host of another Potter fan site. Vander Ark, apparently disillusioned with the deal he struck with RDR in August, wrote: “I am more than willing to dissociate myself with RDR. They have lied to me, misled me, taken advantage of me and in the end ruined my good standing with fans and with Rowling.” ‘
When did he write this? What website was it written to? Is he not allowed, by the terms of his agreement with RDR, to come out and say this kind of thing publicly?
If he made $6500 on the website, is that not including any web hosting costs? My family could live on that for almost 3 months. If I had a website with that much traffic, I’d come up with a way to monetize it without infringing on someone’s copyright and be a happy camper.
Is Steve trying to make the court believe he was an unwilling partner in this fiasco??? For goodness sakes, did RDR force him to go ahead with the book against his will???
He admits to having reservations about the copyright issues, but still he pressed on. Some of the comments defending him seem very naive to me. I am also very sorry that this has happened. I loved the Lexicon. It was an amazing resource. But in fact, it may have been his own naivety that landed him in court. Whatever the reason, Steve is a bright guy and ultimately this unhappy affair is his responsibility.
@ Mrs Lovegood, who said: When did he write this? What website was it written to? Is he not allowed, by the terms of his agreement with RDR, to come out and say this kind of thing publicly?
From Melissa Anellis, TLC:
“The email is question is from January {2008), and was read out loud after Mr. Vander Ark said he did not feel RDR had lied to or misled him.”
The email was used to catch SVA in an outright lie in his sworn testimony.
When you read how Steve cried a bit and things like that, I’m starting to wonder if he hasn’t already regretted this, but now it’s just all too late to back out…
Is Melissa, ok? I sense a vibe of distress from the poor girl according to smlt76’s post above. Whatever the hell this email is, forget about it. Go home and rest. Even a BBC/NBC/CCN reporters dont work as hard you! Focus on your book but more important, get some rest :(
The last few posts here is giving me some shivers of doom and gloom, is there some twist to the plot going on here? I’m confused. I’ll wait for Leaky’s update or check the news.
Dudley, Melissa, be patient. Melissa posted news late last night, so there may be a summary up later this evening.
Nevermind, I just saw what Melissa said on the Leaky Lounge. I guess it makes sense that she stopped taking notes since her name was brought up in the case. Still, I think it would be important to post as much info as we can, and I hope another site or news outlet does do that.
wow. its… SCARY to believe that the court could ever posssibly believe all of that. jo’s testimony was more real and more heartfelt! also- jo didn’t give steve different dates for the timeline, steve didn’t find dates for the timeline—theyre in the book! the two timelines are going to be the same!!!!
No worries, mollywobble’s…Kristin and the rest of the TLC team have taken over the reporting from Melissa. We will have a detailed report update sometime this evening.
Oh no, I’m sorry that Melissa got dragged into it! I hope it’s for the best, though… only time will tell. :/
Don’t worry Melissa, we all apperciate your hard work ; ) I hope that comment from the judge, saying the about the issue of fair use, isn’t true. Makes me think he could be influenced to give the wrong judgement.
Awesome Cara. I just wasn’t sure if others from TLC were in attendance or not.
Oh, Steve! I still love you? What has he done that’s so wrong? He hasn’t hurt anyone! Even if this is for the money for him, he’s not a bad guy. I think he should have given up a long time ago, when Jo first expressed her concerns, but he is still devoted to this fandom. Reading that report of the case… poor Steve.
I think I see now, Melissa is stopping reporting because her name has been brought into the proceedings. That’s very understandable as she would effectively be reporting about herself! Melissa has been extraordinary with her journalism, thus far. More than deserves a rest now. So come on John Noe, your turn to do some work, got your quill? ;)
Oh, big news!
Did you just see? The judge stopped everyone and basically begged the parties to settle the case outside of court, because he said the issues were complicated, the trial could come out either way, and the fair use doctrine is not clear.
This would not be good news for JKR/WB, I would think. Basically since fair use doctrine is not clear in this case, it looks like it will mean that authors will have to much more rigorously defend their rights in the future. Sad day.