Entry tags:

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

"Obviously, it was not the outcome we had hoped for or wanted"
So did you hear the news? cleolinda's head exploded Er, I mean RDR Books is appealing.

That's right, you heard me: RDR Books has issued a notice of appeal. Wankas can scarcely believe it. I mean, even Trelawney wouldn't have seen this one coming, yuk yuk yuk.

Naturally, it's reported on various blogs, like Slashdot as well as Leaky Cauldron, and the same arguments from before are rehashed.

You can still refer to RDR Books' website for, uh, information as well.

ETA: Recording Industry vs. The People, which had just recently shared an opinion about the Lexicaon fair use decision, revisits the topic. For those of you who wants to know what {The Common Man} has to say about this.

Also, did you know that the www.hp-lexicon.org was recently named one of the nation's top 15 "Great Web Sites" for children last week by the American Library Association? How embattled.

ETA 2: I just did an ETA and forgot to tack this on. "It ain't over til it's over!"

Info/Law says Slashdot commenters are oversimplifying things, and Techdirt says JKR made her case based on emotion rather than law and says the case is damaging her rep.

ETA 3: sheep gives us another judicial document that I really wish were really real.

Also, a post on rattlesnakeroot's journal commemorates the anniversary of the judicial proceedings, casting Lexicongate characters as Harry Potter ones.

ETA 4: From mariem_1:“It was all very hurtful,” says Vander Ark , who is still such a fan himself that he doesn’t blame the multi-millionaire author at all for her actions... Vander Ark says that he now longs to meet Rowling - purely to say how much he regrets upsetting her.

mariem_1 continues to make my life easier by pointing out where an anonymouse took issue with rattlesnakeroot's comments on the case. A summary:

Anonymous:
Is the lack of reading comprehension (whether willful or not, I have no idea) contagious around here?

rattlesnakeroot:
Thanks for the psychoanalysis. It's so kind of you to study us this way.

And in case anyone missed it, I'm not actually Cleo; she retired from Lexicongate and I'm merely ~~Sugitchi's ghostwriter~~ her subpar replacement. cleolinda was last seen dancing with glee.

And, in celebration of cleolinda's contributions to keeping us all on top of the tsunami of this wank, here's a refresher course of the past year in Lexicongate:

1: The First Report.
2: "How would it benefit us in any way?"
3: "I would never have thought that a print version could be judged differently"
4: "A vast international smear campaign"
5: "Well, unless you find lawyers sinister"
6: The book has been seen
7: Autographed by who?
8: Another wad of tinfoil for your chewing pleasure
9: RDR lawyers up
10: On the third day of Wanksmas...
11: Just a quick update
12: JK Rowling, Defender of Fandom
13: Old Faithful returns
14: Epic burn
15: A slight change of plans
16: "Friends can disagree and still be friends"
17: "We differ so greatly as to be polar opposites"
18: And so it begins
19: Lexicon trial, day 2
20: Lexicon trial, day 3
21: The day after
22: Trial Transcripts
23: “Melissa has done more to hurt me than Rowling”
24: Lexicongate is over... for certain values of "over"

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Is the lack of reading comprehension contagious?

mariem_1
2008-11-17 07:23 pm UTC (link)

An anonymouse appeared in comments to Rattlesnakeroot's post about the appeal to say:

"Since you spend so much time writing about this case, and present yourself as someone who knows what they're talking about, you might want to take a look at Justia, specifically http://news.justia.com/cases/featured/new-york/nysdce/1:2007cv09667/315790/ (the list of filed documents in the case), and scroll down to see what Document 22 really is. (Hint: It's not the Lexicon manuscript.)
You're also being, at the very least, misleading when you say that it was "mainly the parts that came from QTTA and FB" that were not fair use" and to ask why RSR consider the Pie Chart incorrect. Of course, that doesn't go well and the debate devolves into wank. Highlights:

"rattlesnakeroot:
Hi.
Since this is my own livejournal blog I only "present myself" as someone with a personal opinion. And yeah, I write about this case because it interests me and I have friends involved. You won't be able to scold me enough to get an apology for writing about it, unless you ask for one from Leaky Cauldron and FandomWank, too, as well as fifteen other bloggers/attorneys with opinions, too."

One more thing - don't believe everything people tell you about me. Half of it is wrong, and the other half is an exaggeration. Most people who talk about me or anyone here on this blog don't really know us at all.

"Anonymous:
...it is nonetheless a meaningless aside.

And I would respectfully disagree.

There seems to be a common misconception on both sides of this case, which is that SVA is entirely in the clear, as far as legal matters go, since RDR indemnified him of any costs connected to lawsuits; which I also got the impression that the person I was replying to shared. In order to help clear up that misconception, I thought it was very much to the point that SVA himself guaranteed, in writing, that the Lexicon manuscript would not infringe on JKR's copyright; since, if RDR loses on appeal, it has indeed been found to infringe, giving RDR a very strong case if they wanted to sue him for breach of contract. In fact, it is your comment that "anyone can sue anyone" that is a meaningless aside, since I specifically stated that SVA has left himself wide open to such a lawsuit."

"rattlesnakeroot (who sed "Fail" icon with this comment):
Trying to make this into RDR suing Steve for breach of contract is very imaginative. Maybe they can sue the whole defense team and make them go away, too, like one big circular firing squad?

There are others who share that fantasy, but it's really not going to happen.

Anonymous:
This is the second time in a fairly low number of posts that you've put words in my mouth, and it's really not all that conducive to keeping an argument serious and on-topic. If you're worried enough about what other people say about you, that you saw the need to warn me not to believe them all, you might want to try avoiding that in the future - it might not help, but it certainly won't make things worse".

"rattlesnakeroot:
Ya know, this is my personal Livejournal, and what I really love about it is that I get to decide what is "on-topic" here. I pretty much write whatever I want, and I let other people write what they want, and that makes me happy.

If I need help getting back on topic, I will let you know.

If you're worried enough about what other people say about you, that you saw the need to warn me not to believe them all, you might want to try avoiding that in the future - it might not help, but it certainly won't make things worse.

Thanks for that advice, too, but I was just trying to communicate that other people have their own agendas which are different from my own. I can't avoid what people say, that is true.

it's really not all that conducive to keeping an argument serious and on-topic

Well, see, I'm not really a serious person at all. That must be the problem. :)"

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: Is the lack of reading comprehension contagious? mariem_1 2008-11-18 07:13 am UTC (link)
	(who sed "Fail" icon with this comment) That would be "used", not "sed". (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: Is the lack of reading comprehension contagious? dragonfangirl 2008-11-18 03:35 pm UTC (link)
	Since this is my own livejournal blog I only "present myself" as someone with a personal opinion. BECAUSE OPINIONS CAN'T BE WRONG, AMIRITE? (Reply to this)(Parent)

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