I have not read a single Harry Potter book or ever watched a Harry Potter movie (nor am I about to - couldn’t care less) but this copyright case against The Harry Potter Lexicon is certainly interesting. J.K. Rowling is suing RDR Books to stop them from publishing a Harry Potter reference book compiled by Steve Vander Ark based on his website HP-Lexicon.org. Ironically, The Hollywood Reporter writes, Rowling actually gave the website an award once and actually used it to look up Potter facts. But apparently, what is okay on the internet is not so okay if you want to turn that into a book to make money. Ergo, Rowling is suing.
But it’s not as if Steve Vander Ark and RDR Books didn’t see this coming. This from Yahoo News:
Vander Ark said he initially was against the idea [of publishing the book], partly because he believed it would violate copyright law. Even after Rapoport [RDR Books's publisher] assured him they could publish legally, he remained unsure and insisted on a contract clause in which RDR agreed to take on costs caused by any copyright lawsuit.
As it turns out that was a smart move by Vander Ark. But RDR Books might have been right in their assurances, too. MTV.com has a great post about the legal issues of the case. It seems it all depends on the American concept of Fair Use.
So far the trial has seen both Vander Ark and Rowling giving sob-filled testimonies. Which side will win remains to be seen but I’m pretty much in agreement with Thebadandugly.com when they write:
This is bullshit, because there are countless books out there that take JK Rowling’s fantastic stories and expand upon them. There’s The Book of Harry Potter Trifles, Trivias, and Particularities by Racheline Maltese, The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter : A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts by David Colbert, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the World of Harry Potter by Tere Stouffer, The Seeker’s Guide to Harry Potter by Geo Trevarthen, and the Field Guide to Harry Potter by Colin Duriez.
The only question, however, is whether The Harry Potter Lexicon expands enough on Rowling’s stories to make it Fair Use - but I’m still comfortable calling this bullshit; mostly because the existence of all those other books kind of does make me wonder why go after The Harry Potter Lexicon specifically. Again from Yahoo News:
She [Rowling] also said its publication would spoil plans for her own Potter encyclopedia.
There you go. But would it really spoil her own Potter encyclopedia? Does she not realize who she is? She is God to these Harry Potter people. If God would come up with a reference guide to the Bible then would its chances of success be spoiled by all those other fan made reference guides? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say… probably not. Again, Thebadandugly.com writes:
As Potter Fans, we know that anyone rabid enough to buy a fan-made encyclopedia (written by folks who spent years of their life tracking all things Potter) are just crazy enough to buy multiple copies of the official one.
Is anyone going to buy the unofficial lexicon then ditch one that was actually written by THE CREATOR? No.
Indeed.
Update: Apparently the judge is calling bullshit on this suit as well - in a way. He is urging for the parties to settle admitting that the issue here isn’t as cut and dry as Rowling and her people suggest.