'Harry Potter' lexicon lawsuit begins
Steve Van Der Ark -- of a famous and well-known "Harry Potter" web site -- is in court today to defend his apparent right to publish a version of his site in print and sell it. Of course, a copyright lawsuit was filed by Ms. Potter herself, J.K. Rowling, alleging that the content of this site is her intellectual property.
His site, as frequented by me on many occasions to check facts or find clues (yes, I am a fan), is a large online encyclopedia that breaks the series down into categories such has "The Beastiary," "Muggle Studies," "Which Wizard," "A Wizard's Atlas" and "Magic and Magical Theory" -- all strictly based on only the facts presented by Rowling in her books (also called "canon"). This is an important point, as it has made the lexicon a the most reliable site for theorists since the site's inception.
Why should you care? Well, Rowling famously allows her fervent fans (myself included) to post information, essays, stories, etc., based on the 7 "Harry Potter" books online and at no fee. She has said that she openly enjoyed reading the theories on these sites about the books, content and how the series was going to end. In deciding to publish the lexicon's content in a paper book, Van Der Ark is bringing this free-for-all world to a screeching halt by taking her property and trying to sell it for his own profit.
Also, factor into the equation that Rowling has said on multiple occasions that she would like to write an encyclopedia of her famous wizarding world as a way to tell all the stories she started in the series but was unable to finish.
Thus, this one case could bring the entire idea of online fandom (re: "Battlestar Gallactica," "Star Trek" and "Firefly") to a sharp finale where everyone loses -- fans would lose the ability to freely discuss and post stories based on an authors' fictional characters, while the authors would lose credibility and kindness from these most feverish fans.
I'm behind you, J.K. -- fandom is a fun place, and the online world is a great medium, but enough is enough.
His site, as frequented by me on many occasions to check facts or find clues (yes, I am a fan), is a large online encyclopedia that breaks the series down into categories such has "The Beastiary," "Muggle Studies," "Which Wizard," "A Wizard's Atlas" and "Magic and Magical Theory" -- all strictly based on only the facts presented by Rowling in her books (also called "canon"). This is an important point, as it has made the lexicon a the most reliable site for theorists since the site's inception.
Why should you care? Well, Rowling famously allows her fervent fans (myself included) to post information, essays, stories, etc., based on the 7 "Harry Potter" books online and at no fee. She has said that she openly enjoyed reading the theories on these sites about the books, content and how the series was going to end. In deciding to publish the lexicon's content in a paper book, Van Der Ark is bringing this free-for-all world to a screeching halt by taking her property and trying to sell it for his own profit.
Also, factor into the equation that Rowling has said on multiple occasions that she would like to write an encyclopedia of her famous wizarding world as a way to tell all the stories she started in the series but was unable to finish.
Thus, this one case could bring the entire idea of online fandom (re: "Battlestar Gallactica," "Star Trek" and "Firefly") to a sharp finale where everyone loses -- fans would lose the ability to freely discuss and post stories based on an authors' fictional characters, while the authors would lose credibility and kindness from these most feverish fans.
I'm behind you, J.K. -- fandom is a fun place, and the online world is a great medium, but enough is enough.
Labels: harry potter, J.K. Rowling, lawsuits
This entry was posted by Amber, on Monday, April 14, 2008. You can
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