Post by melon head. on Apr 21, 2008 5:43:24 GMT -5
If there's a thread on this already, sorry about that. I couldn't find it so I though I'd post this. Here's an article from Buzz Sugar:
The legal battle between J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter uber-fan Steven Vander Ark is getting stickier. All day yesterday I kept running into headlines about the 50-year-old Michigan fan "breaking down in tears" when he was called to the stand in the copyright infringement case.Since 2000, Vander Ark has been putting together an online encyclopedia "largely made up of lists of characters, spells and creatures" from the Harry Potter books. However, now that a publisher wants to put out a book version of the Lexicon — which does contain passages taken word for word from Rowling's books — Rowling is crying foul, calling it "wholesale theft" of her work. She has also expressed intentions to publish her own Potter encyclopedia and claims Vander Ark's book would spoil this plan.
Rowling has said the whole case is draining her creativity. Vander Ark is clearly distressed at having to face off in court against the author he most adores. It's a sad situation, but do you think it's even necessary? Is Rowling overreacting? Or should Vander Ark just back down?
Steve Vander Ark in court:
But the most telling part of Vander Ark’s testimony came at the end of Hammer’s direct examination. Asked whether he still considered himself a part of the Harry Potter fan community — those that, in Vander Ark’s words, devote most of their free time to all things Potter, he choked up, and said, “I did.” But then, when pressed on it, he changed his answer. “I do,” he said, breaking up.
Jo thinks that it will "detrimentally affect sales of an all-inclusive encyclopedia which she has long expressed a desire to write and from which sales revenue would be donated to charity".
Opinions?
The legal battle between J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter uber-fan Steven Vander Ark is getting stickier. All day yesterday I kept running into headlines about the 50-year-old Michigan fan "breaking down in tears" when he was called to the stand in the copyright infringement case.Since 2000, Vander Ark has been putting together an online encyclopedia "largely made up of lists of characters, spells and creatures" from the Harry Potter books. However, now that a publisher wants to put out a book version of the Lexicon — which does contain passages taken word for word from Rowling's books — Rowling is crying foul, calling it "wholesale theft" of her work. She has also expressed intentions to publish her own Potter encyclopedia and claims Vander Ark's book would spoil this plan.
Rowling has said the whole case is draining her creativity. Vander Ark is clearly distressed at having to face off in court against the author he most adores. It's a sad situation, but do you think it's even necessary? Is Rowling overreacting? Or should Vander Ark just back down?
Steve Vander Ark in court:
But the most telling part of Vander Ark’s testimony came at the end of Hammer’s direct examination. Asked whether he still considered himself a part of the Harry Potter fan community — those that, in Vander Ark’s words, devote most of their free time to all things Potter, he choked up, and said, “I did.” But then, when pressed on it, he changed his answer. “I do,” he said, breaking up.
Jo thinks that it will "detrimentally affect sales of an all-inclusive encyclopedia which she has long expressed a desire to write and from which sales revenue would be donated to charity".
Opinions?
