SnitchSeeker.com - Harry Potter Lexicon publication halted (UPDATE #3)

SnitchSeeker.com (https://www.snitchseeker.com/forum.php)

- Harry Potter News (https://www.snitchseeker.com/harry-potter-news/)

- - Harry Potter Lexicon publication halted (UPDATE #3) (https://www.snitchseeker.com/harry-potter-news/harry-potter-lexicon-publication-halted-update-3-a-58909/)

Harry Potter Lexicon publication halted (UPDATE #3)

Today Judge Robert Patterson ruled in favour of Warner Brothers and J.K. Rowling in their copyright infringement case against RDR Books, who were intending to release a Harry Potter Lexicon written by Steve Vander Ark. He said that the defence;

Quote:

"had failed to establish an affirmative defense of fair use" and publication of "The Harry Potter Lexicon" should be halted."

Thanks to Blog Hogwarts for the tip!

----------------------
UPDATE: Warner Bros has sent us the following statement in response to the judge's decision:

Quote:

We are obviously pleased with today’s ruling by Judge Patterson supporting the position that the proposed lexicon book infringes on Ms. Rowling’s rights. As a content company, it is imperative that we work vigorously on all fronts to protect the intellectual property rights of those who create the stories and characters, words, pictures and music that entertain and benefit the worldwide audience.

J.K. Rowling also released a statement in regards to the ruling:

Quote:

“I took no pleasure at all in bringing legal action and am delighted that this issue has been resolved favourably,” said J.K. Rowling. “I went to court to uphold the right of authors everywhere to protect their own original work. The court has upheld that right.

The proposed book took an enormous amount of my work and added virtually no original commentary of its own. Now the court has ordered that it must not be published.

Many books have been published which offer original insights into the world of Harry Potter. The Lexicon just is not one of them.”

UPDATE #2: The Guardian has a brief comment from Steve Vander Ark on the outcome of the case;

Quote:

Of the Harry Potter Lexicon, Vander Ark said that although yesterday's judgment appeared to leave "a lot of leeway" for a revised edition, there were no immediate plans to produce one.

UPDATE #3: A statement from RDR Books is now online, which reads;

Quote:

"We are encouraged by the fact the Court recognized that as a general matter authors do not have the right to stop the publication of reference guides and companion books about literary works. As for the Lexicon, we are obviously disappointed with the result, and RDR is considering all of its options."

The full transcript from the outcome can be found here; it notes that the publisher has to pay $750 per book that was infringed, bringing the owed figure to a total of $6,750.

Not a big suprise. It couldn't go any other way, really. And no offence to Vander Ark, but I would rather have Jo's compendium of Potter, than any one else's.

I think this is good news! What is the point of trying to sell the Lexicon, anyway, when it is on the Internet for free? This is nothing but copyright infringement.

That's great news!
As ebony_wandson said...I'd rather have a lexicon/encyclopedia from JKR,then at least it would be official. :)

good good i'm pleased with that

Amazing news! He never would have won!

Go Jo!!!:woot:

A forgone conclusion ... and a waste of money.

Thats fantastic news it really is. Jo and every other authors work should be protected. i really do hope the Vanderark leaves Jo and her work alone now and dosent appeal the decision.

Clearly it would end this way.

I would rather get it from JK as well I mean no one knows the HP universe like she does and I am sure she could do it better.

That is good news. :)

It's not really a surprise that Jo and WB won but i am relieved that the judge finally ruled in their favor. I was getting a little worried, it was taking him sooo long to realize that Vanderark was in the wrong!

Good thing they stopped it.

Go Jo! Knew this would happen anyway. =D Result!

thats good. its just wasnt right to do.

WHOO! ~~suck on it~~

..."Halted" is kind of a temporary-sounding word. Does it mean "never ever" in this instance?

oh yes thank goodness !
I would have been utterly horrified if the judge didnt rule for JK/WB, i was also getting worried as i thought it was pretty obvious how it should go. But then again im no judge and have no clue about the work behind it all.

Congratulations Jo! :D

Agreeing with FoxFire, its a scary word ''halted'' it doesnt sound like it is confirmed like a ''never'', i guess its untill the judgement is lifted or something.
Anyone with information as to what it can mean?

I'm so happy for J.K. Rowling, I know she's happy about it, and so am I. It was obvious that she would win

About time this ended, hm? Too bad for the Lexicon, they must be feeling pretty bad right now, but I agree that it was wrong to print Jo's work and claim it your own only for re-organizing it

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kazters (Post 7176754)

Thats fantastic news it really is. Jo and every other authors work should be protected. i really do hope the Vanderark leaves Jo and her work alone now and dosent appeal the decision.

I agree, this guy was a bit of a nutter. I just cross my fingers that Jo does publish this in the future.

There were a lot of larger copyright issues at work and we'll have to see how things play out. There are already authors out there who won't let people use their work for FF... so while I understand where Rowling is coming from, I'm curious about how other authors might use this standard to limit fair use of their work. Especially in sites like SS.

Ok good...I'd rather have one from JK anyway.

Well Good! The system works...sometimes. :)