SnitchSeeker.com - Two settlements met in Lexicon lawsuit (UPDATED)

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

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

- - Two settlements met in Lexicon lawsuit (UPDATED) (https://www.snitchseeker.com/harry-potter-news/two-settlements-met-in-lexicon-lawsuit-updated-55548/)

Two settlements met in Lexicon lawsuit (UPDATED)

J.K. Rowling has appeared in court today following the lawsuit filed against the Harry Potter Lexicon.

The trial has gone on for three days so far, but District Judge Patterson has repeated what he said on Tuesday, urging both parties to come to a settlement.

Quote:

U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson Jr. said the copyright infringement case was a legal close call, involving unresolved areas of American law, and was almost certain to end in years of appeals.

"I think this case, with imagination, could be settled," Patterson said on the third day of the trial in Manhattan federal court.

It appears that Anthony Falzone, the man representing RDR Books, also has said that both sides of the trial would like to settle on the trademark infringement claims, along with the unfair competition claims. If this is to happen, all that is left would be the core of the case, copyright infringement.

However, J.K. Rowling’s lawyers believe that they have proven that the Lexicon contains more copyrighted material from the books than is permittable.

Quote:

Lawyers for the British writer and Warner Bros., which holds intellectual property rights to the Potter books and films, rested their case Wednesday morning, saying they believed they had proven that "The Harry Potter Lexicon" took too much copyrighted material from Rowling's work.

The lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Dale Margaret Cendali, said she still planned to call Rowling to the stand for a second time later in the trial to rebut testimony offered by the defendant, RDR Books.

Quote:

In his opening statement, RDR lawyer Anthony Falzone defended the Lexicon as a reference guide, calling it a legitimate effort "to organize and discuss the complicated and very elaborate world of Harry Potter." The small publisher is not contesting that the Lexicon infringes upon Rowling's copyright but argues that it is a fair use allowable by law for reference books.

The remaining testimonies are expected to continue this week, we’ll keep you updated as they come in.

Sources: Blogs.WSJ & MSNBC.

Furthermore, Warner Bros has sent us a statement by J.K. Rowling regarding the lawsuit.

Quote:

“The book at the heart of this case has overstepped a boundary so unreasonably that I have been forced, regretfully, to take legal action. Authors have a right to protect their works from misuse. Do I have fewer rights because many people read my books? If this book is published, it will open the floodgates for anyone to lift an author’s work and present it as their own. But if it is not published, that will be a boon not only to all who create original works, but to all who enjoy those works.”

Rowling should really win this.
<3 her Comment

She should be our President XD!

All of Jo's statements have been so spot on.
He's taking Jo's seventeen years of hard work and copying/rewording it and orgainizing it to make himself money. Jo, who made up everything HP in the first place, would be adding informationto what she has already written, as well as organizing it, with all money earned going to charity.
SVA should just drop out now. Actually, he should've before it got this far.
I really hope JKR wins this whole thing.
I hope it doesn't "end in years of appeals."

This is really taking a toll on everyone. It needs to be settled fast. He's only getting publicity the more this goes on. JK should win easily!

he should just give it up!! At this point he has made so many HP fans mad that I doubt it would sell that good anyways and I would rather wait for Jo to write an encyclopedia than take the guesstimations from a fan! I hope he just drops the lexicon publication and lets her do what she wants with her world! Good Luck Jo!

Her quote is just amazing!! I stand by her 100%, and I hope this is settled soon - with her winning, of course!

he is trying to settle but it seems like JK and her camp want to make an example of him ans have his head on a platter

his side is willing to come to the table and settle this and get it over and done with so let this thing die already

I wish they would just settle this. It is starting to get out of control.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomasina Riddle (Post 6491161)

*Round of applause* I couldn't agree more.

Come on!! You could do it!! *waves pompoms*

It does seem a shame that it can't settle, but I completely understand where Jo is coming from. This work has her blood sweat and tears poured into it, so why should anyone take that away from her and make such a profit from it.

If Jo doesn't win, then there is something deeply wrong with the system!

^ Agreed and the repercussions would be frightening. Anyone who's a writer must see that.

OMG this is getting boring now! :-/

Quote:

Originally Posted by RiddleMeThis (Post 6490711)

She should be our President XD!

Hah - Good idea! :D

I hope JK Rowling wins, it was her work first, I will be mad if she dont's win

Quote:

Originally Posted by ndebic (Post 6492329)

totally agree w/ you. One simply cannot replace her 17 years of hard work w/ lots of cut and paste into a reference book and make $$ off of it. Seriously, Harry Potter and company are literally like her family. That is why, in her more hard-cutting statements, she seems narrow-minded. She is not narrow minded and cut throat. She is protecting what is hers that is being seriously infringed upon.

It is amazing to me that a lot of the people on this fansite that I have been proud to be a member of think that Ms. Rowling should settle over something that is hers to start with. It does not matter how much money she has made, how much she will make, etc. The bottom line is that he is taking her copyrighted material (knowingly) and trying to make a fortune from it. Because we all know he will make a fortune off of it. If all of you that are feeling sorry for Mr. Van DerArk and RDR publishing, your sympathy is wasted. He knew that it was copyright infringement, that's why he had the clause put in that RDR would pay all legal fees when Ms. Rowling and WB came after them. I personally think it is a slap in the face to Ms. Rowling from you, her so-called die hard fans and you should be ashamed of yourself for taking their side.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mimiham (Post 6492855)

YOU ARE SO CORRECT!!! I personally think people felt sorry for him when he broke down on the stand. He likely broke down because he had to come face to face w/ jkr and see the incredible (read: illegal) mess he has caused. Crying or not, he should gracefully apologize to her and accept the punishment/judge's decision. What annoys me is that he KNEW what he was doing all along. I mean, the man may live in a created fantasy world, but he certainly had dollar signs in his eyes.

O.o how come people think he will get a fortune out of it? I have yet to find someone who says they're going to buy this thing, especially since we will have an "official" version before long.

And I don't think spinning this to make it a battle between "real" and "fake" fans is helping matters. Calm down.

And yet another addendum:
How can the judge say that this is a "close call"? This whole issue seems fairly straightforward to me...

I have faith that she will win this, I just hope that it doesn't take too much longer...

-sigh-

That's all I can say.

Quote:

Do I have fewer rights because many people read my books?

No. Of course not.

:dizzy: Hmm, hope Jo wins the case.

Meh. I haven't really heard of what's in these books, but surely if they aren't claiming that any of the material used is their own, there shouldn't be such a huge problem. Although, her taking legal action must mean that there is quite a lot of that going on... hmmm..

I hope Jo wins her case, nevertheless :)