Entry tags:

entitlement, fandom: harry potter, internet lawyers, this is the wank that never ends

"We differ so greatly as to be polar opposites"
The Leaky Cauldron publicly separates from the Lexicon.

[W]e do not think a win for J.K. Rowling means tighter controls on fan creativity at all, and are concerned for the opposite, as well as the attempt to misportray the issues of the case as stated in sworn affadavits. So, after a few days of careful and many-sided discussion, we, as a full staff, decided that people who have such a fundamental disconnect in beliefs cannot and should not be partners in name or spirit, and two days ago informed the Lexicon that we are severing our association....

And while Leaky has always owned the hp-lexicon.org domain and paid for the site’s hosting, we’ve promised to transfer the domain to Steve as soon as litigation is complete (a stipulation that would not have been made had ownership not been mentioned in court documents). We will continue to pay for hosting and provide free support until that day.

Note: Compare this statement to the hosting discussion back in December. There's a pretty big discrepancy there, is all I'm saying.

ETA:

lidane brings us a small sampling of comment wank. Also, did you know that this is a Fifth Amendment issue?

ETA 2, via

cbm and

insanitys_place: The defense has requested JKR as a witness.

ETA 3: SVA leaves a comment at the Lexicon site; the Times Online (UK) weighs in with "J. K. Rowling determined to block RDR Books' Harry Potter 'rip-off' "; a discussion of UK law from another site that has admitted to not reading the manuscript; someone is "baffled at how people are so willing to accept the notion that authors own the ideas they publish"; and I really don't even know what's going on here.

ETA 4: More from SVA in a Lexicon thread.

(Something that might be helpful: get ETAs emailed to you from Watch That Page. It's how I keep track of things elsewhere.)

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	kumquat_of_doom 2008-03-26 05:27 am UTC (link)
	I don't know if anyone's spotted this already, but I finally found a newspaper report that isn't highly anti-JKR! The Times, no less, has weighed in. Also, I really really want a '~~Clarissa~~ Cleolina explains it all' icon for this wank. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kumquat_of_doom 2008-03-26 06:38 am UTC (link)
	...Er. Cleolinda. I can type, really. (Reply to this)(Parent)

pantyless_angel
2008-03-26 07:02 am UTC (link)

This is what really makes me sick, is that people frown on fan creations as illegal and unauthorized derivative works, however, fan works allow space for fans to write themselves into a fictional universe, to feel closer to their passions and their idols. JKR has been using the online Harry Potter Lexicon during the process of writing the last of her books, but now that the Lexicon is moving from the virtual domain to the physical, it poses a real physical threat and she has suddenly denounced it. Society needs to start thinking about producing a free culture in which all cultural products are open-access and belong to everyone. It is counter-productive to deny the public the ability to engage with products collectively owned.

Sarah Oakey, Adelaide, South Australia

...Wait.. What? Can some one translate this from batshit please?

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2008-03-26 07:13 am UTC (link)
	Isn't it obvious? The internet isn't free access. Having to purchase a book with cash money is much better for fandom and for society. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2008-03-26 07:39 am UTC (link)
	From what I'm getting, Sarah Oakey has not been hit with the cluebat to know what the hell is actually going on or what this whole case is about, and apparently once you make something, it belongs to everyone, so JKR is a h0r for denying the right for others to make money off of her stuff. Or something like that. -Reporter Mouse (Reply to this)(Parent)

seca
2008-03-26 08:09 am UTC (link)

I don't think she realizes that what SVA is trying to publish expands on nothing that isn't already in the actual books. You know, like JKR's encyclopedia actually will.

That and she's confusing culture with IPs and has probably never had any experience with people who want to make an honest living off of their IPs, like authors and artists.

But here are boobies to help put your mind at ease from the crazy.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	dragonfangirl 2008-03-26 02:28 pm UTC (link)
	Society needs to start thinking about producing a free culture in which all cultural products are open-access and belong to everyone. Translation: I WANT FREE STUFF. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	auralan 2008-03-26 07:29 pm UTC (link)
	Result of translation: Artists spend too much time bagging groceries to produce free cultural products. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lukita 2008-03-26 08:49 pm UTC (link)
	Translation: I'm only a cute teenie and have no idea what I'm trying to say. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	wolfsamurai 2008-03-26 09:28 am UTC (link)
	Holy crap. Someone from my home town (that being Albuquerque) said something sane and rational in response to that article. I didn't think there was another person capable of Earth logic from here. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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