Twilight sucks...And Not In A Good Way.

Many people agree. Others...do not.

I’m sorry, but i don’t agree with anything you say. At all. I loved all four books and there are plenty of us out there who also enjoyed the series. I can’t wait to read more of Stephenie meyers books. So Fuck you all.

This is a fictional book, and I totally disagree with YOUR OPINION. I enjoyed the Twillight Saga.The reason I don’t want to go point by point with you is space, time, and I’m not trying to convince you to change your opinion.
(Yes that is TOTALLY the reason)

OK people SHUT THE FUCK UP,if people like this book stop dissing it and stop compareing it to FRICKIN harry potter!they are 2 different series.and in the 2nd book BELLA SAVES EDWARD FYI!!!!!!!!!!!so there bella is a great role model she cooks for her dad,takes care of her mother,and does her homework and is an excellent stdent!and smeyer said bella will go to colleage but as infinate time so ahe can do what ever.so in conclusin if you say twilight sucks YOU SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GO TWILIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
( Some more.. )

ETA: TwiMoms send white chess pieces to EW to get them to change their review for BD from a D.

ETA2: Have some more TwiMom forum links.

ETA3: Return of the Batshit! Via shallow_kid Twilight fan woos man with the last name of Cullen and eventually marries him.

ETA4: Batshittier! Twifans physically attacking those who don't like the books?!

Team Bella or Team Hermione whose side are you on?

ETA5: IT NEVER ENDS. First twelve chapters of Midnight Sun leaked. Edward = creepy stalker confirmed.

Since cleolinda has had more than enough Twilight, it seems, I thought I'd take her up on her offer to move the growing wank to a new post.

Previously, on the Sparkledammerug: People weren't happy.

Entertainment Weekly, previously best known in the Twilight fandom for its extensive coverage of the hype and for this monstrosity of a cover, reviewed Breaking Dawn in the issue released today. The overall grade was a D.

( lion_lamb reacts. Badly. )

lion_lamb isn't the only place where the wank is, though.

SMeyer tells MTV.com that the backlash "hurts." Most comments run along the lines of "LEAVE STEPHENIE ALONE!!!!"

The Twilight Lexicon takes a position on BD, and disallow character-bashing, expressing disapproval at SMeyer's writing, and calling Jacob a pedophile.

And if you're tired of the wank, have an extended Twilight parody in which Edward is turned into a cranky, scrapbooking virgin?

It's going to be a long August.

EDIT THE FIRST: Nora Roberts smash!

EDIT THE SECOND: Dissapointed 'Breaking Dawn' fans organize protest. Twilighters in the comments claim that the haters only make up 10% of the reader base.

EDIT THE THIRD: The Twilight Lexicon is hacked! EDIT THE THREE-POINT-FIFTH: One of the Lexicon mods posts about it on her journal. Is the Lexicon no more? ETC: Screencaps of a troll post made to the Lex shortly before the hacking. ETC THE RECKONING: The hacker speaks? ETA SQUARED: Lexicon admin claims it's not an inside job, posts messages from the hacker. ARE YOU KIDDING ME: And the hacker speaks again! (deleted) THIS DESERVES ITS OWN POST: Amazon.com boards on the hacking, with a surprise guest appearance by Laurel K. Hamilton's personal assistant?

EDIT THE FOURTH: ... off-topic, but were we just deleted for a bit?

EDIT THE FIFTH: Twilight Moms have possibly gone underground. FIVE-POINT-FIFTH: Confirmation! YEAH, WE'RE STILL GOING: The TwiMoms have returned, and ready to stroke Steph's ego all over again!

EDIT THE SIXTH: The Washington Post review of BD. Not wanky, just hilarious.

EDIT THE SEVENTH: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books weighs in. Smug Twilighter alert in the comments.

EDIT THE EIGHTH: Twatlympics?

EDIT THE NINTH: The haters draft a petition!

EDIT THE TENTH: You don't know the history of Twilight. Darla Cook does. TEN-POINT-FIVE: And she keeps on going, too.

DOES IT EVER END: Publishers' Weekly article on the protest. They think Twilight's audience consists entirely of teenagers. Ahahaha... ha.

As Whomageddon rolls on, doctorwho  brings us another sterling gem. Or rather, two bright turds of wank, coupled together to form a synergistic pile of perfection.

First, cringer1982 shares that he's written a very pointed letter to the BBC about how they have portrayed Asians in their recent episode Turn Left. He neglects to mention that he's white as the fresh driven snow. Irish, in fact.

BBC officials respond with a letter that has nothing to do with anything.

Some people don't see his point.

( Meanwhile, back on the blog... )

Dearest, beloved, Fandom Wank.

I know you were looking forward to great excitement today. Some of you said words to me that indicated you anticipated fiery 'judgement' upon those who remained fresh and dewey white, those you call n00bs.

Anyway, you got today instead.

Stop anticipating things, we'll just break your hearts.

Sincerely,

Sepia P. Magpie, Esq.



PS: Use this post to reflect on how you could be better people. Or just fuck around in the comments.

SVA lashes out at TLC's Melissa in the New Yorker; Melissa alleges that the author, Tim Wu, actually put words in her mouth.

(Side note: "Alohomora" has changed on the Lexicon site again.)

ETA: Screencaps of changes to "Alohomora" this month, for the record.

( Read more... )

ETA 6: The briefs have been filed and are online.

Also: Melissa's statement about editing and/or censorship on Leaky Lounge..

Sorry to post again, but this is fairly significant: via Leaky Lounge, full transcripts of all three days of the Lexicon trial. They are from Stanford (whose Fair Use Project is providing RDR's defense), but it's more than we've had before. The discussion of these transcripts at LL is worth reading, by the way.

(Previously on the Thirty Years’ Wank: A metric ton of articles and an interview with SVA. Watch This Page for update alerts.)

ETA: Anne Rice weighs in.

ETA 2 (May 1): Okay, I'm a bit behind on ETA links, but:

insanitys_place: The Lexicon has corrected the "Alohomora" entry with information from JKR's testimony... not that it's credited as such.

Neil Gaiman weighs in again (and again).

waltraute: Orson Scott Card weighs in.

foresthouse: "This article from CNN by "a legal analyst on "American Morning" is new and discusses the law and views from different lawyers (like Tim Wu who was mentioned before). It's well written."

jedi_dwh: "The Hollywood Reporter is still on the case, and doing a pretty good job of keeping things balanced. It appears their law writers actually- GASP- do their homework!"

Ouch: Potter fan a crybaby in court.

So. The trial ended yesterday (on time, somehow). Since full writeups seem to appear on a delay, here's one more entry as a cleanup post and then we'll have some peace and quiet. From what I hear, we've got three to four weeks minimum before we get a ruling.

(Watch This Page for update alerts. Because I will probably cram in as many ETAs as I can rather than break for a new entry.)

( MOAR )

Latest:

ETA 6: A few more articles:

CNN: Potter case raises thorny issues.

Galley Cat: Harry Potter and the Wait for the Verdict.

Booksquare: JK Rowling Is Wrong.

Today: copyright experts testify, from what I've heard, so things should be a bit quieter. Originally the trial was scheduled for three days; I don't know how much longer it's actually going to take. ( MOAR )

Latest:

ETA 8: The Pie Chart of Doom didn't make it in! NOOOOOOOOO.

ETA 9: Via Leaky Lounge: WSJ LB may not have represented Johnson's testimony accurately. Also, WSJers seem to have gotten Cheryl Klein (who did not testify) confused with Suzanne Murphy.

From what I've heard SVA will testify today. Keep in mind, also--I can't remember which blogger said it, but apparently Judge Patterson looks and sounds a lot like John Huston, which adds an extra layer of awesome to the whole thing.

To start the morning off: TLC comment wank; the Hollywood Reporter weighs in; Y ALOHA THAR!

More as it comes. Watch This Page for update alerts.

( MOAR )

ETA 2: Holy hell, you guys. The morning update was the last time I was at a computer, so I am DROWNING now. Here's what I was able to pull together in about an hour: ( SVA testifies )

Latest:

ETA 4: More color commentary from jkrtrialblog on SVA's testimony:

Though I do not support Vander Ark, nor do I care for the lawyers defending RDR, the entire courtroom couldn’t help but laugh when Vander Ark said, “this is exciting,” regarding Alohamora’s origin. The lawyer, obviously beyond unenthused, said, “I’m thrilled myself.”

[...]

When asked if he would not be working RDR following the Lexicon book because he felt he was being misled, he adamantly denied such an allegation. Rowling’s lawyer then brought in a new piece of evidence. She distributed to the judge, Vander Ark, and RDR’s lawyers, a copy of an email sent by Mr. Vander Ark to Melissa Anelli. He stated in the email that he felt RDR had lied to and misled him and that they ruined his standing with fans and JKR and that was why he wouldn’t work with them anymore. The still silence following this piece of evidence leaves me with the conclusion that it’s very possible that RDR did not know that Vander Ark was saying such things behind their back.

As part of evidence, a video clip from a Harry Potter conference that took place in Toronto in August of 2007 was shown. It was about 15 seconds long and showed a bit of Vander Ark’s presentation. From his speech, we heard him say, “Jo quit. We’re taking over now.” [...] Aside from that, the judge was not happy to learn that this brief clip and short excerpt of his speech was the only part of the video brought into evidence. Vander Ark, who should have kept his mouth shut, joked that most of the rest of his presentation could be found on YouTube.

Quick ETA 5: From ari_o: The NYT has a crush on SVA.

I haven't caught it yet, but I'm hearing that the Lexicon case is already on Fox News every half hour. A couple of things I held on to over the weekend:

The latest documents on Justia.

'Potter' author seeks to block fan book. "In court Friday, Hammer said Rowling's lawyers did not want Vander Ark in the courtroom while Rowling testifies."

More later. Watch This Page for update alerts.

ETA: ( MOAR )

Latest:

ETA 9: New at Leaky Cauldron: First Day of JKR/WB vs RDR Books Trial, at which Leaky staffer(s?) were in attendance and able to take notes. There are some really interesting points in Rowling's testimony, but I'll only quote from the Rapoport notes since we haven't seen much from his:( Read more... )

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.)

Ah, finally something worth a new post: SVA gives a short interview to BlogHogwarts, a Spanish-language site. The original English version is at Leaky Lounge.

(Previously on the Hundred Years' Wank: ( Read more... )

ETA: New Justia document: "Counsel for Plaintiff hereby advise the Court and opposing counsel that they have elected to proceed with the bench trial and have Your Honor decide this case." I believe the deadline for the defendants requesting a jury trial was March 14.

ETA wtf: Conan O'Brien mentions the case on his show?

Okay, on Friday, a document appeared on Justia that said... well, we weren't entirely sure what it said, or what it was really in response to. The upside of it was that there was going to be an injunction hearing on March 13, but... something about going ahead and squeezing in a trial rather than waiting on a summary judgment that sent both sides into a flurry of trying to figure out how to fly witnesses to New York on six days' notice (JKR is apparently attending another trial--involving paparazzi?--in England on that date already). Fortunately, RDR has an update:

New York Federal District Court Judge Robert Patterson has scheduled a trial for March 24, 25 and 26 in the matter of Warner Bros. Entertainment and J.K. Rowling v. RDR Books. The judge consolidated a previously scheduled preliminary injunction hearing with the trial.

Also:( Read more... )


ETA 8, because I'm just going to keep on trucking on this one entry until something important actually happens:

Via rustybitch: Info/Law, the one blog that gets it, has posted a new analysis. Key passages:

For transformation, let’s dispose quickly of a red herring: RDR/VA’s work - and it’s extensive - in cataloging and assembling information about the Potter world gets zero weight in fair use analysis. Feist makes this clear: "sweat of the brow" copyright is dead - you get no protection for your work because of the effort involved in pulling it together. Rather, the key is the new expression you add - or, here, the new transformative expression. And I don’t think there’s enough of it.

[...]

Is this a good outcome? I think so. Remember that the 4 factors are non-exclusive. I’d argue Judge Patterson should consider an additional factor here: behavior by the copyright owner. Rowling has been supportive - very much so - of the Lexicon as long as it remained on-line and relatively non-commercial. To the degree that free speech concerns arise in this case (as the memo in opposition of the injunction argues, at p. 6), Rowling’s conduct mitigates those worries.... She’s allowing this information to be presented to her fans and the public in general, while trying to minimize financial harm to her works. Copyright is often presented as a balance between incentives to produce and access to that production; here, Rowling’s approach seems to find that balance.... In Potter terms, though, I think this is a triumph for Dumbledore’s Army, and not for the Death Eaters.

From auralan: "RDR Books has set up Media contacts for the Harry Potter Lexicon Case. They're not bothering to make any pretense that this isn't all about getting as much press coverage as possible."

From hooloovoo_too: More conflict-of-interest weirdness.

From insanitys_place: "I was able to dig up the two Lanthorn articles if anyone is interested in them. This one was before the GVSU forum. And here's the follow up article."

From alexielnet: The Lexicongate drinking game.

Previously on The Hundred Years' Wank: RDR demands to see JKR's notes, judge lols; RDR files its response; the NYT weighs in; grudgepuppet accuses TLC's Melissa of tax fraud, recipes ensue.

Leaky grudgewank hits the Times Union. Key sentence: "Fansites such as The Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet have been selling ad space on their sites for years and some have cried fowl."* Includes wank in the comments.

* Which fowl? "TURKEY! PHEASANT! CHICKENNNN!"

And then: JKR/WB Respond in Lexicon Suit. From TLC: "This is the last filing before a hearing on March 13 to determine if a preliminary injunction will be granted. After that there still may or may not be a trial to determine if infringement has taken place." ( Key points )

Whew. *goes to have a lie-down*

ETA: From karintheswede, "Methuen, the British firm set to publish the Lexicon if RDR/SVA win, is ' "fairly confident" the court will rule in RDR's favour,' according to The Bookseller."

ETA 2 from TLC: "Harvard Law Wayne State University faculty and copyright/IP professor Derek Bambauer says that a recent NYT article on the case "Foul[ed] Up Fair Use" and contains an "embarassingly simple mistake of copyright law."

ETA 3: The filings are finally up at Justia.

ETA 4: Most viewed new story on Yahoo News: Rowling bashes 'Harry Potter Lexicon.'

ETA 5: RDR Books speaks. ( Read more... )

ETA 5b: The Lexicon story hits Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

ETA 5c: From ravenbell: an article from Cinematical: "Discuss: When Fans Go Too Far." Includes wank in the comments; I'm not really sure what's going on with the "bright shiny snowflake" comment.

ETA 6: Nora Roberts speaks:

Fan fiction doesn’t copy the author’s story and call it their own, but uses it or the characters, as a springboard for another story. And not for profit. Much different, to my mind, than what Edwards did over many years and with many sources.

But this suit seems to involve someone who IS taking the author’s words, without her permission, and trying to sell it for profit. I’d sue, too.

I don’t mind fan fiction (understand those authors who do), but when I find my work on the internet--for profit or not--copied and claimed by someone else, I shut it down.

NORA ROBERTS HAS SPOKEN.

As an offshoot of the Lexicon wank, it appears Melissa wank has arrived.

As part of her "impartial" coverage of the lawsuit, Melissa Anelli of TLC apparently felt it necessary to qualify Steve Vander Ark's (signed under oath) statement that the advertising on the Lexicon "covers the cost of running the site" by reminding people that "The Leaky Cauldron houses and runs the Harry Potter Lexicon for zero charge, and has since it came under its current domain name. That is true as of this posting." However, on Feb 11 she admits to denying a request for the transfer of hosting.

This prompts SVA to release more detail than anyone wanted to know about the finances of the Lexicon. Quote: "If there was any income to me, it wasn't much, especially by comparison to the income other websites have earned." The "other website" he specifically mentions is MuggleNet, whose owner claims a "six-figure income" from the site. SVA doesn't mention TLC, but Melissa goes crazy.

A bit of digging reveals that TLC's finances have been discussed before over on I was a Leaky Lounge Mod. In May 2007, a mouse says: "I know for a fact that Melissa used Leaky money to buy herself a new laptop." In September 2007, Gina raised suspicions about who paid for Melissa's New York apartment ("the web provides a TON of information about purchase prices of condos which are pretty darn high to not have jobs *koff koff*") Over Sep/Oct 2007 the subject was raised again, and another mouse said:

"To take Melissa as the main example, as has been pointed out she lives in New York. That place is very expensive, not just real estate but the cost of living as well. She is in no way living off the advance on her book because let's face it, even if all her fangirls and boys buy it it's not going to be a huge best seller. The time has been and gone for that. She has left her full time job and therefore she must be taking at least a 5-6 figure salary from Leaky. If she is doing this and has deliberately registered it in a way that doesn't mean full disclosure, then that is appalling."

The matter was pretty much put to rest until Melissa forced SVA's hand. Ex-staff are pissed. Highlights:

There will continue to be no transparency about Leaky income. They've claimed for far too long that they make no money. I can only say that I actually know this to be total BS. I'd love to tell you my proof, alas I'm not able. Steve threw some stones but Melissa opened a door that, IMHO, that now begs the question of well, so, what DOES Leaky earn then?

and:

Since Melissa is bringing up money herself, she really should answer. If she is going to criticize Steve for trying to make this a full time job that she should be above that same criticism.

Arianhrod marches over to Leaky Lounge with this:

But since it doesn't appear that anyone else is going to ask the logical question, I will.

Just how much does Leaky make from all of this--in profit? Is this considered a hobby by the IRS, or is it a major source (or even sole source) of income?

And before anyone questions my audacity, Melissa has laid it out on the line and brought the subject of hosting and ad revenue costs into the open. It's no longer a private matter--the whole world now knows about it and as such this is a valid question, especially if TLC has been or gets dragged into this lawsuit.

I don't expect an answer--I do expect to get ripped to shreds, and that's fine. But at least I'm not afraid to ask.

Melissa ignores the question. Arianhrod calls her on it ("With all due respect, Melissa, that is avoiding the issue.") Melissa gets defensive.

Just one thing, but it's that good. Via auralan: "RDR Books' side wanted, as part of their discovery, to get copies of JKR's notes that she's already prepared for her own encyclopedia! Why? Because JKR says she's writing one and they need this as proof of that."

Application granted in part. Plaintiffs are to provide defendants with copies of the statements contained in the publications [auralan: "They get copies of the magazines/interviews where JKR said she was planning to write the encyclopedia"] listed in plaintiffs response to Interrogatory 3(a) (ii) by February 8, 2008. Defendant has not shown the Court that any further discovery about Ms. Rowling's notes would be helpful to Defendant's position [Judge Robert P. Patterson: "LOL NO"].


Oh, and RDR Books has also started a blog. At least... they're trying to.

ETA: JKR/WB respond: ( Read more... )

ETA 2, from weyrlady: "SVA has sent a letter to Ansible, a *very* popular fanzine run out of England by Dave Langford. Dave published it here." Short version: The print edition of the Lexicon differs greatly from the website--the material was expanded condensed* and the extensive quoting was minimized and it's legal. Also, JKR hates freedom.

* Wait, condensed? "The entries on the website provide much more detailed and complete information than the entries in the book. We took the information on the site and did a lot of editing, condensing, and in some cases complete rewriting." So... the free resource is... better than the one you have to pay for.

Also: "You and I are part of a subculture that lives off the creative work of others. We always try to do that in a legal and respectful way."

ETA 3, via lidane: RDR Books Files Response to JKR/WB in Lexicon Suit. TLC: "There are in all declarations from six people and several hundred papers of exhibits, most of which are copies of text from books (including almost the entire Lexicon book)." Points of interest:

( Read more... )

ETA 4: From sylvatica: "The NY Times article today about this case is here: A Tight Grip Can Choke Creativity. They seem to be siding with RDR books, based on fair use, but I don't know if they've visited the Lexicon website much... there's something in there about how it's mostly analysis, commentary, pointing out mistakes and such." Before I was able to update with this, Watch That Page sent an alert to the effect that RDR Books has posted this link on its front page as well.

Also, from ari_o: Wank on the TLC entry, also reported by pyratejenni. "Who does JK Rowling think she is, that she’s better than JRR Tolkien and Gene Roddenberry?"

ETA 5 from lidane: Drama ensues as SVA and Melissa from TLC volley statements back and forth regarding the Lexicon's hosting situation.

ETA 5b: A Lexicon supporter (possible friend of SVA?) shows up to grudgewank Melissa and "subtly" tries to use FW as her flying monkeys. Recipes and snarky tags ensue.

Apologies to folks sick of Lexicon wank, but--from jedi_dwh: JKR Files Full Request for Injunction of HP Lexicon. "A rule against JKR/WB would harm the fan community by 'necessitating more monitoring and restriction of fan activity by copyright owners afraid of compromising their rights against infringers.' "

It's a huge post and I haven't read it all yet--and apparently it's part one of two. The sentence "The text of the e-mail string between Steve Vander Ark and the Christopher Little Agency requesting employment on the official encyclopedia is included in the document [and reprinted in the post]" jumped out at me, though.

ETA from white_serpent: "Oh, and you can read the whole text of the requested injunction yourself here."

ETA 2: Part two is up. There's interesting stuff in there, but at the very end:

Claims that the book is an academic resource are rebuffed by a piece of evidence showing Roger Rapoport's instruction to a colleague to focus on children's bookstores for sales.

The question of authorship arises here as well: Steve Vander Ark has said the Lexicon was "created, edited, written and maintained primarily by one person, me," and the book has listed only one author; however an e-mail from Roger Rapoport says the book was the result of 20 academic scholars and reference experts' work.

Also, being discussed in the comments here:

>>  lidane: "Remember the fans that contacted Steve about publishing an encyclopedia? Well, they've both filed official statements in the court documents that JKR/WB submitted."

>> auralan: "Thus, rather than being a work of scholarship or research, the Lexicon simply takes Ms. Rowling's intellectual 'furniture,' catalogues it through descriptions that have either been lifted or synthesized from Ms. Rowling, and rearranges it in unoriginal alphabetical order. She's read the Lexicon according to her declaration. I'd say this answers the question on the inclusion of the essays. They're not in there."

ETA 3: More discussions of note:

>> Cassie Edwards-style comparison between Lexicon entries and related JKR text in court documents.

>> WB tech guy's declaration that he did, in fact, try to print the Lexicon website.

ETA 4, from auralan: a Plantiffs' First Amended Complaint ("This is basically the initial filing updated now that they've seen the book. The lawyers seem mighty cranky now that they've done some discovery and have some smoking guns"):

Ms. Rowling and Warner Bros. are concerned about the Infringing Book not only because of the infringing material it contains, as is discussed below, and not only because it will undermine the companion guide that Ms. Rowling herself intends to write, but also because RDR Books has confirmed -- through its refusal to be above-board about its intentions and engage in reasonable discussion about the Infringing Book -- that it cannot be trusted with one of the most beloved children's book series in history.

Watch That Page reports some updates to the RDR Books site:

THANK YOU FOR THE MANY EXPRESSIONS OF SUPPORT FOR OUR AUTHOR STEVE VANDER ARK AND HIS HARRY POTTER LEXICON.  The preliminary injunction case will be heard February 28 by New York Federal District Judge Robert Patterson. More information on the Harry Potter Lexicon lawsuit is available here.

And just in case you didn't see the Slate article at fandom_lounge, RDR wants to make sure you know about it:

* J.K. Rowling's Dark Mark -- Why She Should Lose Her Copyright Lawsuit Against the Harry Potter Lexicon, by Tim Wu, Columbia University Law Professor.

1) Stanford Law group enters fray over Harry Potter guide.

2) So the GVSU talk was last night. From various posters: attendee accounts, plus video.

An amusing note from corellianscribe: "Much to my eternal amusement, he plopped down behind me and asked if I was from journalfen. Translation: was I one of the crazies from Fandom Wank?" But furthermore: SVA came off reasonably well. RDR... not so much. ( Like he'd just been told Christmas was coming twice this year )

Also, regarding the Star Wars PDF precedent: ( You can do that? )

ETA: RDR Books updates. Again. Key sentence, IMO: "It simply is not the case that authors can exploit copyright law to prevent analysis and commentary on their work."


ETA 2: From aewgliriel: "Someone I know over on Jedi Council Forums [corellianscribe?] is/was involved with the forum on this, and here's what they had to say." Key section: "And, at the end of the talk, a few things became very clear: a) RDR is full of crap and mostly blowing a lot of hot air around. Also, they're not very nice. b) SVA is a nice guy who may or may not ever pull his head out of encyclopedia mode, but he has terrible judgment when it comes to picking publishers. c) 'Cousin Vinny' really doesn't know what he's talking about. At all." Also, she would love to comment here--where's the request-an-account place again?

Speaking of SVA picking publishers, a few things I'm hearing from elanor, take it as you will: ( Debunking misconceptions )

ETA 3: Via fortheloveof22: TLC's Melissa's version of the Lexicon hosting situation.

Previously on the Thirty Days' Wank: RDR Books will not ever, ever stop updating its site.

Today: RDR Books updates its site. Again. Some more. ( ABOUT OUR LEGAL TEAM )

Also, re: the December 5 SVA/RDR "opportunity to discuss 'the David and Goliath legal battle that this case entails'" at GVSU, word on the street is that 1) GVSU may be misrepresenting the purpose of the forum (i.e., that it's not to discuss the case) and 2) it may be canceled.