I agree with J.K. Rowling and her lawyers assertion that if the Lexicon book were to be published there would be individuals that would buy it and then not bother with buying the two charity books (the Quidditch one and the Fantastic Beasts one) since from what I’ve seen of the Lexicon book in its current form it almost replaces them – especially Fantastic Beasts.
Let’s hear it for Kristin being able to slog through all that paperwork!
Wow Kristin, nice summary there. Was your keyboard smoking after typing all that? I just hope this whole mess gets taken care of soon.
Kristin, thanks for the summary and the links.
Looking at the charts that JKR made, it makes me sick to my stomach. When looking over the Lexicon manuscript you can see things that you distinctly recognize but when you put them side by side its even more disgusting. Some of them aren’t even unquoted paraphrasing but blatant word for word.
And I’m sorry, I will never buy the “we didn’t put page numbers because there are more than on version of the book.” There are tons of versions of every book. That’s what a bibliography is for so that if someone in the UK is reading the guide and wants to find the direct page, they can see whether or not the page came from their version or another version (which probably would still be in relatively the same two pages or so). I would never get away with that in college.
Hopefully we hear from the Judge soon. Thanks again Kristin!
Thank you, Kristen!
You’re a gentlewoman and a scholar.
nice work Kristen! SVA should be ashamed of himself, its completely apparent to me that this is nothing more than a quickly slapped togther attempt to make money, this book should never come to publication, i enjoyed the lexicon website but ill never go there again! SVA to me has killed all his credibility and has burned many bridges inthe hp world and cost him many fans, including me
There comes a time in every man’s life when he should just put his tail between his legs and crawl under a bridge. a little humility and an honest apology can work wonders. the public is very forgiving to a man who comes to terms with his mistakes…you know…like the grinch who stole christmas.
I’m very sorry that this matter has come to court as I have always been a fan of the Lexicon website. While I side with J.K. on the matter of whether or not the book breaches copyright and causes damage, I don’t believe that Steve meant any harm when he wrote the book. My belief is that he initially believed that such a book would be a copyright infringement (as evidenced by the email statements) but RDR probably told him that it wouldn’t be and he must have believed them, but requested the contract to hold the publishers liable for any suspected infrigement just in case, since it was them who said it was okay. Of course he’s not going to say so now, he has to side with his publisher, but the email where he accuses RDR of lying to him seems to back up my theory. RDR behaved very poorly when the cease and desist letters started arriving. If they really believed that the book was okay (and J.K. has never given anyone reason to believe she’s not a reasonable person) why did they refuse to send a copy of the manuscript? If this matter had been handled better it would never have needed to come to court. As it is, if the book is published I won’t be buying it, but I will continue to visit the Lexicon’s website. I wonder really if there’s much point in publishing the book now since most of the HP fans probably won’t buy it.
What really rankles me though is the journalists, copy-right ‘experts’ and other writers who are having a go at J.K as though she’s some big, rich bully picking on the poor, innocent librarian. People really seem to have a thing against rich people, they want to believe that they’re power-hungry snobs. As for the press, J.K.’s behaved too good in the past for them to pass up any opportunity to slam her.
Thanks again, Kristin, for the impartial report.
I find it sad that, despite all of the independent (not associated with the trial, RDR, SVA, JKR, or the WB) expert commentary on this issue, fans still believe that this book constitutes clear-cut copyright infringement. Almost everything coming from neutral sources points to the contrary: this case is anything but clear-cut. Even though JKR and WB deliberately chose the most notoriously pro-copyright, anti-fair use jurisdiction in the United States of America to file their suit, the judge in this trial implied that this case could easily go either way when he urged both sides to settle.
First, let me say that Kristin has an uncanny ability to draw consistent summary of all this material. [If only the court clerks and such could have done the same, there wouldn’t have been so much for the Judge to “wade through”] I am amazed at this body of work. Second, anyone who even hints that Kristin, Melissa or anyone else on the Leaky Staff, is biased, is a liar. I also applaud the many referals to the “original transcript” as an honest way of giving everyone the chance to “summarize” for themselves.[For both sides] All that being said, I am apalled at SVA and RDR’s blatant ability to try and take this to “the logical conculsion” IMHO, the only “logical conclusion” is that not only did SVA commit [by his own words] infringement, but he was give notoriously bad advise, at each turn. It is unfair that SVA should have been taken advantage of, by RDR. However, he [SVA] knew what was going on, in time to stop it. He is not an idiot. All that needed be done, from the begining, was to cooperate, with JKR. This all could have been averted. AGAIN, thank you TLC, and Kristin especially, for going to the trouble to set out both sides. Not an easy task, my dears! Hugs, kisses,thanks and appreciation from the “other side of the pond”.....
Ginevra Potter, RDR admits to infringement. It’s an affirmative defense, as in, “We infringed but here’s why it should be legal.” And no neutral sources have got their facts right so far so I really don’t at all trust that ther commentary is on, either. The average fan reading here seems way more up on the actual facts, from reading the actual documents, than anyone else. Additionally there have been some great rundowns on blogs from lawyers that don’t include factual inaccuracies, that show that JKR/WB should win: Check out Harvard’s Info law blog and praetorianguard.livejournal.com.
@ Ginerva It is not unusual, indeed it is common practice for plaintifs in civil actions to seek the jurisdiction most favorable to their case. To not do so would show then to foolish indeed.
Remember, (and this statement not intended to reflect against JKR in any way) the notice on the walls of most courtrooms I’ve seen says, more or less: “We who labor here seek only Truth.” In my experience, those who labor there seek only to WIN! and truth is found only by happenstance or an exceptionally astute judge.
@ Confederate Lady:
You stated, “Second, anyone who even hints that Kristin, Melissa or anyone else on the Leaky Staff, is biased, is a liar.” Of course they’re biased. They can’t help but be biased. In fact, we’re all biased, no matter which side of the issue we lean toward. Everything we write is filtered through our thoughts, feelings, values, and perceptions, creating a bias, whether we’re aware of it or not.
Having said that, I do agree that the Leaky staff has done a remarkable job in keeping their reporting fairly neutral. Still, it’s obvious where their feelings and their loyalties lie.
Wow Kirstin well done, I could never imagine understanding all of those documents enough to summarise it.
So does this mean we are close to a desicion?
I am with the Big Guys on this one, and can’t wait until PotterCast this week to hear your opions on this.
Sue, I have read your blog, All I can say is hugs
Mellisa, clever and wonderfully intergrial Mellisa, you get hugs too