We've all read up a little on the lawsuit that J.K. Rowling has filed against the Harry Potter Lexicon for their attemps at making an encyclopaedia. Do you think she handled all of this the right way? What're your feelings towards the HPL for attempting to make and sell the book?

I think Jo did the right thing. I totally loved HPL, they are reliable with HP but now....
I'm glad Jo took care of it.

So am I; they should have asked permission first before doing anything like that. It's rude in a way, I'm glad she stopped it before it went any further.

I love Lexicon, but I do not think it was appropriate for them to attempt to make and sell the encyclopedia. These are JKR's characters and her story... she did the right thing by filing a lawsuit. Now i'm not too big with the law stuff, but I'm pretty sure Lexicon crossed a fine line of copyright infringement...

On that note, I can't wait for JKR to write the encyclopedia

yes, I'm glad she stopped it soon.

Neither can I!

Same here; finally we'll know everything we've always wanted to know

Well, from what I read, they were basically just publishing information off their site in the form of a novel. =/ It's still her info though. Do you think she'll win the whole entire battle? Do you think the HP Lexicon should be allowed to publish their own encylopedia?

I think she will win. HPL doesn't deserve to publish anything like that. I mean, they didn't write the HP books. They didn't put 10 years of hard work into it so I can't see why they want to write the encyclopedia.

What if she doesn't win? What do you think will happen next? I mean, obviously the HPL will be frowned at for doing this.

Personally, I think it is a shame that a once-cordial relationship between Jo and the Lexicon is being torn apart by this entire situation. Jo had always praised the Lexicon for their accuracy and admitted to referring to it to ensure she wasn't contradicting herself as she was writing the later novels. I think it is irresponsible and quite stupid actually, on the part of the Lexicon to not ask permission to publish such a thing. If they had been smart, they would have tried to become involved with Jo when she wrote her own encyclopedia and perhaps struck a deal there by volunteering their efforts. Instead, they have violated Jo's rights and brought a great deal of negative publicity upon them. Copyright infringement is no joke and I think Jo will have an easy time winning that case. There would be no encyclopedia for the Lexicon to publish if Jo hadn't written the characters! Clearly, they belong to her and the Lexicon has no right to make a profit on it without her permission.

Now, in the event that she loses the law suit, which I seriously doubt will happen but let's just say, I can honestly say that I will not buy their encyclopedia - especially if Jo publishes one of her own. Why would I pay for the same information that I can get for free on their internet site?? Unlike Jo, Lexicon cannot add information that wasn't divulged in the books. Jo can explain and augment areas that were unclear or minimally described. Clearly, her encyclopedia would be much more interesting to read and even if she loses this battle, I think that because of the devotion of her fans, ultimately she will win the war.

Not only because of the devotion of her fans, will Jo ultimately win the war, but also because she has a stronger case then Lexicon. Sure the information is published on Lexicon, and they could write an encyclopedia out of it, but as Tiff said, why would you want to buy something that you could get for free on their site? If they're going to do that, then they may as well just charge for visitors to use their site which would be highly irrational.

They are Jo's characters and her story, so she is the only one who knows the whole truth about the ones that were left out in the open after the seventh book. She could provide much more in depth descriptions on any area than Lexicon. Without her even writing any of the books, then there would be no Lexicon in the first place. For as long as Jo is alive, then they will be her characters and her story; I doubt anyone would want to read something about her story when she herself is personally capable of providing the information.

I think that there are so many unofficial HP books floating around at the moment that it was only a matter of time that someone took it too far, it's just a shame that it is a website that used to have such a good relationship with Jo.

I don't know all the legal arguments etc so have no idea who will "win" in court, however, I cannot see HP Lexicon winning overall due to the previously mentioned - why pay for a book when the info is already freely available and when a better, more detailed official book will be released? With Jo's army of fans, I can't see the Lexicon's version ever being a big success as most people will be too loyal to her.

Well, in my opinion.

They attempted to do what??
i guess i haven't heard the news...
but i'm sure everythings ok now...

I hope Jo wins this, I mean it's one thing about taking your own work and turning it into an encyclopedia, but taking someone elses' without premission is just not acceptable. I'm sure if they went throug the correct channels, contacting Jo and asking she may have said yes or no. Bt since they didn't well...

I do hope that one is madeone day however. And I'm sure the Lexicon and Jo will remain somewhat friends after this, it's not going to be one of those 10 year long court cases, where everyone turns on everyone. Jo wants ths dealt with quietly, and I'm sure the Lexicon does too.

This was rather sad. However, to PUBLISH the information would definitely be a copy write infringement. Seeing as you cannot reproduce anything from the books it's a pretty big infringement. They really should have gotten permission from Jo AND Bloomsbury and pretty much all her legal publishers. Seeing as Jo was planning on getting one together anyway, it was a bit tactless to try.

Jo did what had to be done.. It was a shame that this happened..
I hope this won't affect any future writtings Jo may do..

Has anyone heard further about a HP Book 8.. I heard it on the news
over the weekend..

I totally agree with Lemon. I would buy JK Rowlings one, because its most likely she will put shome facts in there unknown to the fans yet.

I agree with the both of you

What I wonder is, though ... she's already released a LOT of info in interviews. Do you think she'll have enough new stuff to make her own encyclopaedia different than what we can just find on the web?

Definitely!!! She has created a whole world that we have only had a glimpse of, which is something the Lexicon cannot compete with. She could do a whole book on just people alone, who they marry, what they end up doing, who's related to who. Then you've got the spells, the places, the magical objects - well too many to mention.

I can't wait for it to be released, although I do think it will be some time before it is. That is the one thing the Lexicon has going for it. People may get impatient waiting for the official book to come out they may just buy the unofficial one, if is granted, just to fulfil their HP appetite.

I definitely think Jo's encyclopedia would be a million times better than anything the Lexicon can put out because she INVENTED the world and knows how she envisoned the entire thing. All Lexicon can do is print what they already have online. Not too exciting in my opinion. Think of all the things Jo can include in that encyclopedia that Lexicon can't: spells, characters and their fates, family trees, details on all the classes at Hogwarts, tons of magical places, potions and all their ingredients, etc. etc. The list can literally go on forever!

As for the Lexicon having time on their side, you bring up an excellent point. Many people will want to get their hands on it immediately, but my personal feelings are that I will boycott Lexicon's encyc. and wait for Jo's. Hopefully others will do the same, especially considering it is likely that Lexicon will no longer have their free online resource that so many of us use. If people are upset that they're taking that away to make some money, then perhaps they will be patient and wait for Jo's, which we all know will be so much better. Either that, or people will buy both bc they just can't get enough of HP.

Yes, it would be completely diffrent from anything we've read! She wouldn't throw stuff we've already seen together and sell it, it wouldn't sell properly. She wants us to now everything there is, so why not come up with a few new things and put them in?

I for one will not buy anything the Lexicon sells. If it doesn't have Jo's name on it I ignore it and think it's a falseified document. I want HER stuff, not something the LExicon made up to get money. It's all a money thing IMHO, they want to get credit for something before Jo,so they're going to sell it before she finishes hers. I know Jo's will sell more copies, easily, even if people do buy the Lexicons one.

From the update on latest response on the law suit, it seems unjust if the lexicon are given the go ahead. Reading the quotes given, I think this is the one that sums it up most for me.(From Jo)

Quote:

"The Harry Potter books are full of moral choices and ethical dilemmas, and, ironically, Mr. Vander Ark’s actions tend to demonstrate that he is woefully unfit to represent himself as either a ‘fan of’ or ‘expert on’ books whose spirits he seems entirely to have missed.”

I agree that the Lexicon version is just a rip off and I won't be buying it if they are given the go ahead, but if they do print the book, this lawsuit is all the free publicity that they need and it is ashame that someone's hard work can be easily ripped off by someone else.