J.K. Rowling Will Make You Cry
Filed under: Anglophilia > Legal Matters > Harry Potter
The librarian-author at the heart of the Harry Potter encyclopedia lawsuit controversy, Steven Jan Vander Ark, broke down sobbing on the witness stand on Tuesday.
The 50-year old librarian was described by courtroom observers as "school boy charming" and an obvious Harry Potter die hard. On the witness stand, the librarian portrayed J.K. Rowling as 'his idol, his true literary love, who had been unaccountably bewitched by the evil, money-grubbing forces of publishing, like one of Voldemort’s vassals.' He couldn't understand how Rowling one day was singling out his Harry Potter Lexicon Web site, out of “hundreds of thousands” of Potter fan sites on the Web, for praise and then the next is accusing him of plagiarism for wanting to turn it into a book.
The report goes on to recount that when the librarian was asked by his lawyer if he considered himself part of the Harry Potter community:
“I did,” he said, his face reddening, as he turned away from Ms. Rowling, who was sitting 10 feet away at the plaintiff’s table, listening intently. Then he burst out crying. “Sorry,” he said, regaining his composure. “It’s been difficult because there’s been a lot of criticism, obviously, and that was never the intention.”
Pussy!
Rowling reacted to the librarian's testimony through an e-mail message from a spokeswoman, saying, “A fan’s affectionate enthusiasm should not obscure acts of plagiarism.”
Can't they find a way to work together?
[Image via WENN.]
FIRST
Old hag has a point, it's her material & I hope she wins.
seriously, there is no stopping this heartless bitch. she's the richest author alive, and one of the wealthiest people in the world, and she spends all her money hiring lawyers to attack those people who try to make any themself!! SO ridiculous! hell, she plagiarized a lot of her ideas as well! the crazy bitch needs to die already so the harry potter fans can do what they want.
I understand both sides, but the truth of the matter is that it IS plagiarism! She deserves to win, but she should be a little gentle on him since he's such a fan.
Eh…
Fuck her! Isnt a billion dollars enough for her? I guess she forgot how hard up for money SHE used to be not to long ago… fucking writing hairy potter on a napkin… I guess money changes cunts like JK Rowling
wow.
it's her fucking material so he can't rip it off.
WTF
ROWLING IS A BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL at the people looking like "wizards & warlocks" in the background.
Omg. My friend told me that she saw her profile with hot photos on "milliona irefriends com". Is that true? Maybe… OMG, is she looking for new relationships?
Does anyone know what Monday's secret code word was for the Tyra Bank's show?
DEAR ROWLING,
FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are putting a FAN THROUGH THIS! YOU WOULD PROBABLY SUE YOUR OWN MOTHER TO GET MORE MONEY YOU DISGUSTING COW!
It's her work and no one should try and benefit without her permission.
well then she needs to sue all the other fan sites as well! she should not just pick and choose. she's starting to come across as an old bitter hag now.
translation
- the guy really is a die-hard Rowling fan and realizes that he allowed his publisher to scam him into an act of wilful plaigarism
.
I agree Perez, it would be great if the two of them can work together — and cut out the money grubbing publisher middleman who tried to get a free ride on the Potter magic carpet
he stole her work. why do you expect her to work with him?
Lets see how important money is when you're dead. Bc everyone dies and no one needs more than a billion dollars. It's ridiculous how people never stop wanting more and she's hurting a fan!!!!
I am no longer a fan!
The problem with this case is that the online fansite is one thing because all over it the site said "copyright of J.K. Rowling and that this is only for fun. Noinfringement intended." That's the standard for a HP fansite. What he is trying to do is to profit on Rowling's work, which is copyright infringement.
Shes not the saint she or the media paints herself out to be…
Dont all be fooled…
Im tired of her and her damn books and harry potter…
Shes got nothing more to do than sue people…
shes new money from white trash and always will be….
She should have offed herself year ago.. now we are stuck with nothing more then a over inflated children's book writer who thinks shes gods gift to the world…
She's gonna loooooooooooooose. Fanfiction abounds, you can't stop it. She needs to get over herself. The books aren't even that good - overhyped.
He maybe an enthusiast of Harry Potter but he is plagiarizing someone else's work. J.K. Rowling spent nearly 20 years working on those novels and deserves all the money that goes with it. She is not money hungry but protective of a work that has consumed so much of her life. Harry Potter lexicon websites are not illegal but when you decided to compile and profit off of something that is not yours that is where the line is drawn. He maybe passionate about Harry Potter but true Harry Potter fans respect the author and her wishes.
Wonder how much this douche has made off her hardwork and creativity.
Hmmm…Wonder how much I could make off a Perez Hilton Encyclopedia?
She announced plans for this books months ago.. It's going to charity. It's HER WORK. It's one thing to have a fan site and another to profit from a book. I hope she wins.. Boo hoo librarian baby
It's her work, she has the right to sue.. unlike fatty Perez who sues someone for saying bad (but true) things about him. Fatty.. when are you going to learn.. and when are you going to get some cleanser that helps remove the extra oil from your skin. You look very dirty… yuk.
WTF does she have in her hand? A crab??
:( watta sob story!
well obvisouly he is a big fan of harry potter and he had no intentions of doing any harm. it doesn't make it right that it is plagiarism tho. you would think Rowling would have some kind of heart and not sue her own fans tho! work something out with the poor guy outside of court.
if i was an artist and my work captivated someones heart in such a manner id be so flattered to think that it i was the one who owed them something. for being so passionate about what i had created and having so much admiration for me. if warner goes after this guy so be it but for rowling to be so upset and up in arms about it what a total cunt. go back to england with your billion dollars and leave the nerdy 50 year old librarian alone bitch
There is a stark difference between running a free website, where information regarding the books is listed in voluminous supply and taking another author's works, characters, etc etc and publishing a Harry Potter Encyclopedia which only lists information already provided by the author. That is stealing her work. It is plagerism. Had this gentleman published a book of theories or analysis on Rowlings books, characters etc., he would not be sitting in court right now. Many other HP websites have done just that, many other people have published such books and they are not in court crying like an idiot who got caught with his hand in someone elses cookie jar. When she sent a cease and desist to him, the publisher and attorneys; they should have stopped instead of fighting and proceeding. He has brought this on himself.
To her, her books are like a masterpiece.
She probably feels like her work is the Mona Lisa
and this guy painted a mustache on it.
-
Personally, I'm not a fan of the books.
I'm not a ten-year-old either…
Re: Josh –
Plagiarism is the practice of claiming or implying original authorship of (or incorporating material from) someone else's written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one's own without adequate acknowledgement. -Wikipedia
I don't think what he's doing is plagiarism. he would still be citing jk rowling's books as reference.
she looks really hot in that picture! or maybe it's just the money i'm seeing..
anyway i think she's damn right. it is her work and his use of it is plagiarism. it's ok to do it online cos its not for profit! duh
That's really sad, I feel bad for both of them and I see both of their points of view but I think I have to side with J. K. Rowling. She created the characters, they're like her children, and she has every right to want to be associated with anything that's created that features them. It's not even about the money, or it wouldn't be for me. She should be the sole creator of all Potter stuff. If the guy had approached her and asked to collaborate on it, then maybe. But I do feel bad for him too.
Umm… i just clicked on your "adverstise here!" link.. BLOODY HELL perez, you must be absolutely rolling-in-the-shit-LOADED! Y
you charge about 240,000 to advertise for a few months? and there are so many adds on this sight. millions and millions a year you must make! do you get all that money or do you have to pay other people too..
and that's just from this venture!
didn't quite realise..
much love
J.K. Rowling is a bitch, and I really hope she loses. Doesn't she have enough money already??? Seriously…I don't think this guy ever thought he was plagiarizing. If she's not willing to work with this guy, she should at least have the decency to drop the lawsuit if he agrees not to publish the encyclopedia.
It's one thing to praise a website for fans run by fans as a hobby and another if that same person then tries to profit over it. It's called copy right and it protects people like Rowling and her work.
It's just very simple and it's sad we have morons like some who have posted here that don't understand that.
The fact is, she knows more about Harry and his world then anybody else! She was already planning for a big encyclopedia that she was going to write.
Its HER world. Her characters her ideas. It doesnt matter that she has made millions from these books….the fact is, is that they are HERS!
Also, why should she have to work with some fan on her books encyclopedia just because he a stupid moron who obviously has no brain cells.
Stop your whining kid. You brought it on yourself.
Let's get this straight: She had absolutely no issues with what this man (or any other fan sites) were doing up until the point that a profit stood to be made using characters she had created. Once this man and his publishers decided to use her original ideas for their own financial gain, she made her disapproval be known.
That sounds pretty reasonable to me. How much money she has is irrelevant. They are her characters and this man is trying to make money off of her ideas without her permission. She deserves to win.
It would be one thing if he wanted to release a book claiming to be the sequel and taking over the characters. But, it's a dictionary of sorts rehashing what's already been done. How do millions of "unauthorized" authors get away with publishing books about Madonna, Liz, Michael J, etc. without getting into trouble? By using one little word on the cover "UNAUTHORIZED"
She doesn't have a legal leg to stand on but, she has enough money to blow up the building with the judge in it - if she doesn't get her way!
She's disgusting…
I can't believe he was so stupid to try and publish it without asking her in the first place anyway. If he had any common sense he wouldn't be in court now and Rowling is completely within her rights to sue his ass off. Plus she is lovely in person (have met her) and was probably too lenient with the fan sites in the first place. He cried cause he knows he was wrong and now he's in trouble, I used to do the same when I was 10 and I broke one of my mums favourite ornaments.
i hope the librarian wins. jk is so cheap. she never gave a dime of her billions to the poor low level editor that got her first book published.
She created this "Harry Potter Culture" - SHE needs to take responsiblity for
what SHE created. Has anyone copied Martha Stewart- fuck yeah Or Perez
Hilton- fuck yeah. She should throw this guy a bone and accept the
complement for what it is. Now I think she's a MORON.
I wonder how understanding Perez would be if he found one of his fans selling Perez Hilton T shirts
It's plagiarism. She doesn't have to do anything with him. It's her work and she can do what she wants to with it. He stole her work. If she lost this law suit what is going to stop everyone in the world from making their own Harry Potter books or any other work that another author wrote. She needs to win this law suit for all writers to protect their work.
Re: Erin – I agree with you. I think it's pretty obvious that this man didn't mean to plagiarize, so she shouldn't be tough on him if he agrees not to publish the book. This lawsuit isn't really a good message to HP fans. And really, does J.K. Rowling need the money from this lawsuit? I don't think so…I think her fame has gone to her head.
That was pretty harsh, if she truly felt any compassion for the poor man she would work with him on it, or I don't know like give him permission or something. Even though it's plagiarism (hence why she should work with him), she's the one thats hurting image coming off as a cold bitch.
for the record:
they would work together because they were friends beforehand.
and working together would bring compromise to a blown-out situation that will have monumental results if there is a verdict
instead of settlement.
RE : scott
if rowling wins then that means author's will have the authority to shut down all fan websites, fanfics and even references.
doesn't that sound great?
The point is that he is trying to cash in on her work. It doesn't matter if she made a dollar or a billion dollars on the HP series… it's HER series! He has NO right to it.
As an aspiring author I can feel for Rowling… and everyone calling her heartless and a bitch is way out of line. What if this was your work, and someone was trying to make a quick buck off you? Seriously, if it doesn't hurt your puny brain too much, THINK about it!
I really think she is making an example of this guy.
If she doesn't come down on him, how many others will pop up? She's putting a stop to this now before it gets out of hand.
Bravo, Rowling!
I don't read her books or know much about the case, but in every interview I've seen her in she strikes me as the biggest bitch.
In the Grand Rapids Press in Grand Rapids Michigan, they had an article on Steven Vander Ark and his website. At the end of the article, there was a quote from J.K. Rowling that stated that she used his site as a reference even when she was writing the last 2-3 books! Who is plagerising who here? There are millions of websites up that give details on the characters, storylines, events, books, and movies. Why is it that when one decides to publish a book (because there is a great population out there that does not have access to the internet) that its a big deal? I understand both sides of the story. I feel that they should be able to publish the book but all of the proceeds get to go to a charity of choice made by Rowling. It's what they want and it's what she wants. Makes sense, doesn't it?
Re: lisa – Exactly. He's not claiming ownership of the lexicon - he's compiling it as a reference and incorporating comments and essays from the blog so how is that plagiarism? I think Rowling is out of line - she says she wants to do one of her own. So why can't there be two? Look at how many "companion" pieces there are to other popular works. Rabid fans will buy it ALL. And it's worth noting that Rowling herself lifted stuff from tons of other works. But this is what happens when people make too much money and power trip. Just look at Madonna for how bad that can get.
Is it plagiarism if the man is attributing the work to her? I mean really. She's a money grubbing whore these days. Probably got her panties in a bunch because she knows she's a one hit wonder with this storyline. Beyond this her stuff will flub.
she is a stone cold bitch and harry potter sucks ass, that librarian needs to find a new literary idol, once again my theory that british people are total assholes is confirmed
Uhhhhh…noooo… they can't… why should she let anyone in on her blood, sweat and tears… her genius…
Re: K-Swan – So he's going to make some money off it, why shouldn't he? His site was probably responsible for raking in tons of cash for Rowling by promoting her work, for free. This is standard practice - look at how many cover bands cash in on other musicians' work. She should get some licensing fees but she she shouldn't be able to stop him from doing what he's doing. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.
I see both sides. I mean, I feel for the guy because he had a good idea which fans like but that's the thing…he had a good idea about another good idea: her copy written book with her copy written characters. Thems the breaks. She's protecting her considerable assets because if she lets him do it then everyone else can and then she has a diluted product. Hell, Disney once sued (and won) a case against a daycare center that had painted Disney characters on the wall! He should have just kept the website up and not tried to make money off the book
Its her work and the guy was doing something he shouldent, so lets stone him? JK seems like a stone cold bitch! With all her success she should give back to her community and work with fans instead of being a greedy cunt!
One thing to get straight….
She is suing because she is writing her own encyclopedia book.
BUT she is giving all of the money she makes off of it to charity.
She may have a billion dollars, but shes not suing to get more.
Who cares if she's rich? She didn't use to be. She got rich because she came up with an original and successful series of books. Yes, this guy runs a fan site of hers, but that was fine because he wasn't profiting off her.
Now, he wants to profit off of what it the original, unique, intellectual property of another. He doesn't deserve to take J.K. Rowling's work, repackage it, and earn money off of someone else's creation. It doesn't matter that he's a huge fan or he's rich. If J.K. Rowling allows this guy to get away with it, who's to stop the next guy? She would never have money in the first place, morons!
It is not about the money!!!!!
It is about protecting her caracters! It is her world!
J.K Rowling has become a total bitch since Harry Potter has come out. The woman has millions but doesn't do a nice single thing for anyone but herself, does she not remember her life before she wrote Harry Potter?
She's a terrible person.
Thats the thing about Americans on this site, you dont get that not verything is about money. You cant just rip peoples work for it you have to work for it. Thats what us Brits are like and why we are so much better than you. It is not about the money you idiots. You don't seem to care about Artistic credibilty, more about how much you have in the bank account.
Yeah, that was my first thought when I 1st heard. If the work is good, why doesn't JKR simply roll with it, edit, add to it, collaborate. It's done already.
Re: Vanessa – Great theory that ya stupid tramp. Funny how the rest of the world hates everything to do with you americans.
Re: Belinda – rm are you thick or someting? Harry Potter is the single most famous piece of work ever. And how many hits does this site get? Exactly.