J K Rowling & Warner Bros sueing RDR Books for attempting to publish a Harry Potter lexicon
Who does this woman think she is? For centuries, lexicons and illustrative guides to literature have been published by people other than the author of the original works, without any claim of copyright infringement being made. The works of similar fantasy writers such as Tolkien, are made immeasurably more enjoyable with the help of an illustrative guide and lexicon. All students of literature will be familiar with such devices, and I have no doubt Ms. Rowling has herself used such guides in her own literary studies.
The published lexicon is derived from an online lexicon website established 8 years ago - a website that J. K. Rowling and her publishers, editors and writing staff have all admitted using, and have commended. Now all of a sudden it’s copyright theft? Presumably, because the book version will have a charge, whereas the website doesn’t. This is nonsense.
Ms. Rowling’s argument is that this lexicon may diminish the value of her own Harry Potter encyclopaedia that she is planning to publish - give me a break!
In fact, this lexicon would help make her books available to a wider audience, and therefore increase her worth and income. If she and Warner Bros succeed in this ridiculous court case, then it will set a dangerous precedent that will surely impact the future study of literary works, as lexicons and guides will not be published by third parties until copyright expires. This will mean that students of the future may be limited to studying archaic literature rather than contemporary literature.
I’ve never read a Harry Potter book, and I certainly don’t intend to. I don’t believe J. K. Rowling deserves any credit for bringing witchcraft and demonism to the masses. If she now gets away with this madness then her literary contribution to the world, spellmongering aside, will certainly be a negative one.
Steve Vander Ark Took most of his book from JKR without stating his sources, its as simple as that. About 90% of it was lifted, word for word, off the page. JKR herself said that she would have no problem if he wrote the book on his own. Besides, fanfiction is not illegal, as long as the person in question isn’t making profit. As soon as the person/company in question starts to make a profit off of someone else’s ideas, creations, and painstaking work, then it is illegal. I believe JKR is completely right to sue this publishing company.
Sorry to comment on such an old post, btw.