As an attorney I am so pleased that Rowling would take the time from her very busy schedule to support the profession. Not only that, but to do it in such a vindictive and obviously unpopular fashion so as to raise the ire of the readers and perhaps foster more litigation and the inevitable appeals. Bravo, J.K.. The legal profession salutes you.
My take on this is that as soon as Vander Ark started making moves to generate cash from his lexicon – that’s when Rowling brought out the lawyers. She has always been very protective of her interests in Harry Potter, ensuring she has complete control over any money-making aspects of the characters and worlds she’s created. She didn’t mind the website because ad revenue brought in about $7k/yr or so (according to a msn.com story I read) so couldn’t really be considered a financial threat. The published book however could potentially bring in heaps of cash and would interfere with any future lexicons or encyclopedias she would wish to publish. (I completely disregard her claims that the whole ordeal has made her not want to write anymore. She’s always been a drama queen on that aspect in my mind).
The best thing for both to do is settle this one. She gets a piece of the action and creative input and he gets his name on the cover, a piece of the action, and creative input. They both come out ahead. I don’t see Rowling doing that though.
Bold statements from someone who has been accused of pilfering the whole idea for the story in the first place!
So let me get this right. Lexicons are OK under fair use. She has even used it as a reference herself in the past. She “plans” to write her own version, but has not. But somehow THIS lexicon is NOT OK?
Sad to see her take the RIAA/MPAA approach of bringing out the lawyers to sue the biggest fans…. just sad. Don’t you have enough money already, Rowling?
JK Rowling is a BILLIONAIRE. I find it hard to see how a little-known “lexicon” will hurt her financially. This case Stinks of Greed.
Rowling is just greedy. There is no doubt in my mind that she read the “Enid Blyton” books as a child, which inspired the Harry Potter series. Now to see her drag a fan through the mud, when she is a billionaire is atrocious. Now I know why I am not a Potter fan. I will continue to support the late unpretentious Enid Blyton who allowed children’s imagination to flourish without seeking worldwide fame and fortune.
So she made a lot of money and is trying to protect her product and that makes her evil. So much class envy any more. I didn’t read her books although my daughter did, so I don’t care a bit about what she wrote. Explain to me why she is wrong in protecting her franchise. I sincerely don’t understand all of the hate towards her. I admire where she came from and what she accomplished.
What we’re seeing here-and in similar cases-is a reality of the internet age: intellectual property rights are withering. Whether that’s good, bad or indifferent is besides the point. Any author or musician who puts something out into the public realm must acknowledge the fact that it can be taken or copied without him/her receiving compensation. For example, how much potential revenue do you think pop/rock stars are losing from fans who download their songs through internet shareware? I’m sure we all sympathize with Metallica’s drummer who-due to the internet-can now afford only a 40-room, instead of 53-room mansion. We feel his pain.
The issue as I see it is she had no problem with the lexicon (even approved of it to some extent) when it was on the web. But when the fan wanted to publish it and maybe, in the end, take some money out of her pocket, THAT is when she decided to become offended. Either endorse it from the beginning, or object to it from the beginning. But to switch tracks like she did, it makes her look greedy and selfish.
It makes her look selfish and greedy, but I’m not sure if I wouldn’t do exactly the same thing if the shoe were on the other foot. At any rate, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for either party. Vander Ark should have known trying to profit from anything with Harry Potter content was going to piss Rowling off, and Rowling should have known sooner or later some fan was going to push the envelope. That’s just how it works in fandom. I’ve used the Lexicon and have found it very useful. I hope this stink doesn’t cause him to disable his site.
Rowling had no problem with allowing a fan to take her content and turn it into something fun for fans on the internet. Seems to be a pretty cool thing to allow. When the fan decided to try and profit from her work – that’s when she cried foul. Seems pretty logical. You can use it for fun – but if you try and make financial gain from it, I’ll come after you. Nothing wrong with that one.
Whether you like Rowling or not is beside the point. It’s her content. Again, I think the fact she let a fan build such a detailed website with her content is pretty cool. He crossed a line when he decided to try and profit without offering her some of her own pie.
This whole mess that Rowling has brought upon herself really casts her in a bad light (and she totally deserves it). I really hope she loses this case. I really dislike her now (because of this case) and would never buy any of these books nor watch any of the movies. My own personal little boycott….
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As an attorney I am so pleased that Rowling would take the time from her very busy schedule to support the profession. Not only that, but to do it in such a vindictive and obviously unpopular fashion so as to raise the ire of the readers and perhaps foster more litigation and the inevitable appeals. Bravo, J.K.. The legal profession salutes you.
My take on this is that as soon as Vander Ark started making moves to generate cash from his lexicon – that’s when Rowling brought out the lawyers. She has always been very protective of her interests in Harry Potter, ensuring she has complete control over any money-making aspects of the characters and worlds she’s created. She didn’t mind the website because ad revenue brought in about $7k/yr or so (according to a msn.com story I read) so couldn’t really be considered a financial threat. The published book however could potentially bring in heaps of cash and would interfere with any future lexicons or encyclopedias she would wish to publish. (I completely disregard her claims that the whole ordeal has made her not want to write anymore. She’s always been a drama queen on that aspect in my mind).
The best thing for both to do is settle this one. She gets a piece of the action and creative input and he gets his name on the cover, a piece of the action, and creative input. They both come out ahead. I don’t see Rowling doing that though.
Bold statements from someone who has been accused of pilfering the whole idea for the story in the first place!
So let me get this right. Lexicons are OK under fair use. She has even used it as a reference herself in the past. She “plans” to write her own version, but has not. But somehow THIS lexicon is NOT OK?
Sad to see her take the RIAA/MPAA approach of bringing out the lawyers to sue the biggest fans…. just sad. Don’t you have enough money already, Rowling?
JK Rowling is a BILLIONAIRE. I find it hard to see how a little-known “lexicon” will hurt her financially. This case Stinks of Greed.
Rowling is just greedy. There is no doubt in my mind that she read the “Enid Blyton” books as a child, which inspired the Harry Potter series. Now to see her drag a fan through the mud, when she is a billionaire is atrocious. Now I know why I am not a Potter fan. I will continue to support the late unpretentious Enid Blyton who allowed children’s imagination to flourish without seeking worldwide fame and fortune.
So she made a lot of money and is trying to protect her product and that makes her evil. So much class envy any more. I didn’t read her books although my daughter did, so I don’t care a bit about what she wrote. Explain to me why she is wrong in protecting her franchise. I sincerely don’t understand all of the hate towards her. I admire where she came from and what she accomplished.
What we’re seeing here-and in similar cases-is a reality of the internet age: intellectual property rights are withering. Whether that’s good, bad or indifferent is besides the point. Any author or musician who puts something out into the public realm must acknowledge the fact that it can be taken or copied without him/her receiving compensation. For example, how much potential revenue do you think pop/rock stars are losing from fans who download their songs through internet shareware? I’m sure we all sympathize with Metallica’s drummer who-due to the internet-can now afford only a 40-room, instead of 53-room mansion. We feel his pain.
The issue as I see it is she had no problem with the lexicon (even approved of it to some extent) when it was on the web. But when the fan wanted to publish it and maybe, in the end, take some money out of her pocket, THAT is when she decided to become offended. Either endorse it from the beginning, or object to it from the beginning. But to switch tracks like she did, it makes her look greedy and selfish.
It makes her look selfish and greedy, but I’m not sure if I wouldn’t do exactly the same thing if the shoe were on the other foot. At any rate, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for either party. Vander Ark should have known trying to profit from anything with Harry Potter content was going to piss Rowling off, and Rowling should have known sooner or later some fan was going to push the envelope. That’s just how it works in fandom. I’ve used the Lexicon and have found it very useful. I hope this stink doesn’t cause him to disable his site.
Rowling had no problem with allowing a fan to take her content and turn it into something fun for fans on the internet. Seems to be a pretty cool thing to allow. When the fan decided to try and profit from her work – that’s when she cried foul. Seems pretty logical. You can use it for fun – but if you try and make financial gain from it, I’ll come after you. Nothing wrong with that one.
Whether you like Rowling or not is beside the point. It’s her content. Again, I think the fact she let a fan build such a detailed website with her content is pretty cool. He crossed a line when he decided to try and profit without offering her some of her own pie.
This whole mess that Rowling has brought upon herself really casts her in a bad light (and she totally deserves it). I really hope she loses this case. I really dislike her now (because of this case) and would never buy any of these books nor watch any of the movies. My own personal little boycott….