IMHO The world's tiniest violin is now playing
For JKR - Rowling suing fan over new Potter book
Best-selling author J.K. Rowling said Monday that her efforts to halt a publisher's "Harry Potter" encyclopedia have been crushing her creativity.
Oh poor wittle thing! How about crushing the joy out of one of your most exuberant fans?
Rowling is suing RDR Books to stop publication of Steven Vander Ark's "Harry Potter Lexicon" on the grounds that her copyrights are being violated.
Hmmm.... you didn't seem to feel there was a copyright violation anytime before:
In court papers, Vander Ark, 50, said he was a teacher and school librarian in Byron Center, Mich., before recently moving to London to begin a career as a writer.
He said he joined an adult online discussion group devoted to the Harry Potter books in 1999 before launching his own Web site as a hobby a year later. Since then, neither Rowling nor her publisher had ever complained about anything on it, he said.
In May 2004, he said, Rowling mentioned his Web site on her own, writing, "This is such a great site that I have been known to sneak into an Internet cafe while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of Harry Potter (which is embarrassing). A Web site for the dangerously obsessive; my natural home."
Nope - you didn't mind that website when you needed it because you couldn't remember what the heck you wrote in your own universe.
She says:
Rowling is a fan of the Harry Potter Lexicon Web site that Vander Ark runs. But she draws the line when it comes to publishing the book and charging $24.95. She also says it fails to include any of the commentary and discussion that enrich the Web site and calls it "nothing more than a rearrangement" of her own material.
But he says:
... it was decided that the lexicon would include sections from the Lexicon Web site that give descriptions and commentary on individual names, places, spells and creatures from Harry Potter stories.
IIRC, there was never any fussing about "The Mysteries of Harry Potter" which discussed things in the HP universe and speculated on what might happen in future books - certainly the authors couldn't have done so without using word for word references from the actual books.
Oh, but of course after the final HP book was finished there would be no need to continue writing those books - the mysteries were all solved. Except, naturally, the mystery of where JKR put her heart.
Apparently she now no longer needs the fannish community.
RDR's lawyer, Anthony Falzone, has defended the lexicon as a reference guide. Falzone called it a legal effort "to organize and discuss the complicated and very elaborate world of Harry Potter."
Considering how closely Christopher Tolkien guards his father's literary legacy, you would think reference books about LotR and Middle Earth would receive similar treatment. Anyone ever hear of such a thing?
The showdown between Rowling and Vander Ark is scheduled to last most of the week in U.S. District Court. The writer will spend her breaks in the seclusion of a jury room -- away from any die-hard Potter fans.
....
In court papers filed prior to the trial, Rowling said she was "deeply troubled" by the book.
"If RDR's position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine fans on the Internet," she said. "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."
Better watch your fanfic, Potter fans! Looks like JKR is about to rescind all that permission she doled out to write within the HP universe.
But this is the part that completely pisses me off:
In court Friday, Hammer said Rowling's lawyers did not want Vander Ark in the courtroom while Rowling testified.
Thanks JKR for letting all the Harry Potter fans know exactly where they stand with you.
Best-selling author J.K. Rowling said Monday that her efforts to halt a publisher's "Harry Potter" encyclopedia have been crushing her creativity.
Oh poor wittle thing! How about crushing the joy out of one of your most exuberant fans?
Rowling is suing RDR Books to stop publication of Steven Vander Ark's "Harry Potter Lexicon" on the grounds that her copyrights are being violated.
Hmmm.... you didn't seem to feel there was a copyright violation anytime before:
In court papers, Vander Ark, 50, said he was a teacher and school librarian in Byron Center, Mich., before recently moving to London to begin a career as a writer.
He said he joined an adult online discussion group devoted to the Harry Potter books in 1999 before launching his own Web site as a hobby a year later. Since then, neither Rowling nor her publisher had ever complained about anything on it, he said.
In May 2004, he said, Rowling mentioned his Web site on her own, writing, "This is such a great site that I have been known to sneak into an Internet cafe while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of Harry Potter (which is embarrassing). A Web site for the dangerously obsessive; my natural home."
Nope - you didn't mind that website when you needed it because you couldn't remember what the heck you wrote in your own universe.
She says:
Rowling is a fan of the Harry Potter Lexicon Web site that Vander Ark runs. But she draws the line when it comes to publishing the book and charging $24.95. She also says it fails to include any of the commentary and discussion that enrich the Web site and calls it "nothing more than a rearrangement" of her own material.
But he says:
... it was decided that the lexicon would include sections from the Lexicon Web site that give descriptions and commentary on individual names, places, spells and creatures from Harry Potter stories.
IIRC, there was never any fussing about "The Mysteries of Harry Potter" which discussed things in the HP universe and speculated on what might happen in future books - certainly the authors couldn't have done so without using word for word references from the actual books.
Oh, but of course after the final HP book was finished there would be no need to continue writing those books - the mysteries were all solved. Except, naturally, the mystery of where JKR put her heart.
Apparently she now no longer needs the fannish community.
RDR's lawyer, Anthony Falzone, has defended the lexicon as a reference guide. Falzone called it a legal effort "to organize and discuss the complicated and very elaborate world of Harry Potter."
Considering how closely Christopher Tolkien guards his father's literary legacy, you would think reference books about LotR and Middle Earth would receive similar treatment. Anyone ever hear of such a thing?
The showdown between Rowling and Vander Ark is scheduled to last most of the week in U.S. District Court. The writer will spend her breaks in the seclusion of a jury room -- away from any die-hard Potter fans.
....
In court papers filed prior to the trial, Rowling said she was "deeply troubled" by the book.
"If RDR's position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine fans on the Internet," she said. "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."
Better watch your fanfic, Potter fans! Looks like JKR is about to rescind all that permission she doled out to write within the HP universe.
But this is the part that completely pisses me off:
In court Friday, Hammer said Rowling's lawyers did not want Vander Ark in the courtroom while Rowling testified.
Thanks JKR for letting all the Harry Potter fans know exactly where they stand with you.