Interesting. Well, if the book is going to be commentary along the lines of something like a Mugglenet book then it shouldn't be blocked. It all depends on how the information is going to be portrayed in the book itself (and how the lawyers can distort the laws).
Rowling had the idea for an encyclopedia based on her books first. Lovely except for the fact that you can't copyright an idea. If someone beats her to the punch, it's her loss for not getting to it sooner. It happens all the time in writing. Two people have the same idea, one writes the book first and makes millions while the other simmers in self-pity. Not a thing they can do about it because ideas are a dime a dozen. Everyone has ideas but something can only be done about it if it's in writing.
Unfortunately I do think a piece of that plays into this, Rowling wanting to be the first to make an encyclopedia from her books and this halt is to stop someone else from taking that idea. If RDR can weasel around the copyright laws (get a good enough lawyer and, well, they're in spades at Stanford, and it can be done) and get their book deemed within the rights of the author without violating said copyright laws, it's going to get done. It doesn't mean she can't write one, of course, but I do think she wanted the first, and rightly so. I'd be the same way if I were her.
A classic example is Microsoft. That wasn't Bill Gates' idea. It was someone else's. He took it and did something with it. Nothing that can be done about it because it was just an idea. It would be nice to say 'hey, that was my idea first, you can't take it!' but, unfortunately, the law doesn't see it that way.
The best advice in situations like this is if you do have an idea, act on it immediately that way you are protected by copyright, be it a book, script, movie, whatever. If you just sit on it, you have no one to blame but yourself for not getting to the punch first.
Last edited by SlytherinSissa; 12-05-2007 at 05:45 PM.
|