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.]
Re: Ryan - You Stupid Americans – Idiocy is not exclusive to any one country. For every uneducated American, there is a proportionate number of moronic "chavs" in England.
Perez, I love you, but please stop picking on J.K. Rowling. You're making her out to be a suit-happy bitch who just wants to rake in the money. That's absolutely not the case at all, and fan or not, this guy has no right to publish her work for his own profit. I'm a die-hard HP fan myself, and J.K. Rowling suing me would definitely make me cry too, mostly because I look up to her so much and would be devastated if she thought I wasn't a good person. I have no doubt that this guy is a true HP fan, but he needs to realize that what he is doing is wrong. He can go on running his site, but taking her words as his own is so far out of line, and obviously illegal. Brilliance like hers doesn't come along very often, neither do books like Harry Potter, and she should be proud of it. She should also be able to defend her hard work properly without being called a greedy bitch. She's off limits, Perez!!
you guys are ridiculous especially the people that are pissed because she is rich, she made the book, she copyrighted it, and the fact is that she didnt have a problem with his website….thats not the issue the fact is he created condensed version of her books and charged for no shit she deserves to win its her material how would you like it if someone used your idea without permission.
THere isn't anything better in life than sucking the snatch on a big-titted white bitch excedpt one with money. JK fits the bill. I will continue to suck up to her on this site in the hope she tracks me down with lust in her heart.
Steve vander Ark used to be a really well respected member of the Harry Potter community because he knows practically everything canon in the books and compiled a great web resource that every fan and even Jo used many times when she was writing the later books.
He deserves nothing. J.K. Rowling has said many many times that she plans on publishing a big hugs Encyclopedia on the wizarding world and donate it to CHARITY. Why the fuck would anybody want to buy his lame book from a no doubt crappy publisher when you could buy what will definitely be a mega resource with gorgeous pictures, details, new knowledge from the creator herself that all goes to a good cause ? Honestly, what is this guy smoking??? What does he plan on doing? Waiting for Jo's Encyclopedia to come out, copy all of it, then add it to his own "commentary"?
The difference between his encyclopedia and hers is that he intended to rearrange her material without changing it. She intended to add "never before seen" information. I don't think he was doing anything wrong, at all!!! He wasn't claiming the info as his. They should work out a deal where part of the fan's encyclopedia's proceeds also go to her charity of choice, or something.
marc - Good work, sycophant. I suspect she afford whjomever she wants buat sucking up never hurt anyone. I heard she really reacts positivly if you ask her to stand on her head and piss. Love ya. Mean it.
Why doesn't she just let him write the damn book! She can't need any more money! I'm disappointed in her.
Re: Ryan - You Stupid Americans –
Ryan, how can you say that about ALL Americans? No we aren't all interested in only money. I am all for Rowling and I love her writing. I also am more interested in artistic ability than money. Please, don't be so harsh and say that ALL Americans are the same. We are not. I'm visiting England for the first time in one month and I'm very excited…. but what you had to say sounded as if all of Britain hated me. I hope I don't run into you when I'm there because you'll be sure to ruin my trip.
Holley crap people. It's HER work, so she has the right to sue him especially considering she was going to write an encyclopedia and DONATE THE MONEY TO CHARITY. HE is stealing her work…. so what if she's already rich enough? Either way, he's bascially making money off the stuff that SHE created.
It's not a guide…if you've ever been to the website it's a freakin encyclopedia. She doesn't have a problem with guides, because there are already a lot of guides out there that she is perfectly fine with.
She needs to get over herself. I hope Steven won.
Without knowing all the facts…
How can it be plagiarism when it is more of an analysis and everyone knows what the source is?
I would think this encyclopedia would be like a Shakespeare encyclopedia about Shakespeare's work - what the heck?!
And it's all based on fans' stuff, not actually Ms. Rowling's. Can't other people have opinions about her work/children?
In short, I think it's rather low of Ms. Rowling to be going to court like this.
All I can think of is the G word. If she really was ALREADY working on her own encyclopedia, she just doesn't want competition…
Re: Pablo – That #106 Marc is definitely not ME (Marc #102, 99, 94, and 96). Just so everyone knows that THIS Marc would not talk THAT way (as in item #106 by some other "Marc") about anyone, much less JK Rowling.
Emotional attachment or not…the issue here is copyright. Rowling is Satan, I have no doubt of that, and the defendant may be a charming fan but it doesn't change the law. If he is blatantly disregarding copyright laws then he cannot publish his book. JK may be a heartless witch but it's not the issue.
Re: Stephanie – Ok, then. If his book is going to be so crappy, then why the lawsuit??? Is she afraid he's going to tarnish the Harry Potter image? She's doing that on her own.
Re: Lainie – Holy Crap, Lainie! If you can't even spell "holy", I doubt you fully grasp what's considered stealing in the literary world. Encyclopedia, guide, essays - it doesn't matter. He's being an opportunist, to be sure, but opportunism isn't illegal.
FPr what it is worth, JK stands for Jack Knauff. Does anyone have any nudes (not the fakes) I could burn copies of? I wouldn't do anything nasty with them.
Re: Cali – I think you missed Cleaver's point, there, Miz Legal Eagle. The author is using his own words to define the lexicon of her work, and including comments and essays from fans. You said it yourself - it's strictly ABOUT her work. It's not copying her work, or using her characters to create new works of fiction. Since all law, including intellectual property law, is subject to interpretation by judges, I'm glad you don't have that job.
To one and all. "Money talks, librarians walk". Dump the naive justice talk.
I considered all the arguments on this and, being a die-hard fan with total alleigance to Rowling, can symphathize enough with the guy. As stated below, T-H-I-S I-S P-L-A-G-E-R-I-S-M ! Technically, as long as the authors have permission for copyright usuage, Rowling can't do shit. If that's true, she should stfu and get over it. IF INDEED THE AUTHER HAS NO PERMISSION, then Rowling should sew (sp?) his ass.
Big point people are missing here. This is a joint litigation taken by JK Rowling & WARNER BROS against an AMERICAN publisher who have paid out for the rights to publish this little UK fans book.
Re: buxom – Yes, I see your point. But it also depends on the degree of the original content in the book. In my haste, I completely to stress that I'm fairly certain that the characters in her books are copyrighted too. There can be "authorized" and "unauthorized uses" of those copyrights. Basically, if J.K. Rowling thinks her ideas are being infringed upon, she can do what she wants legally, and at her discretion. She probably didn't mind those other books I mentioned because they weren't too close to her idea of writing her own encyclopedia.
J.K. would have a stronger case if she applied for an ISBN and started writing this book sooner. It would have been a complete slam dunk for her.
If this guy was such a fan and had been in contact with her before (she would answer questions from fans on his website), he should have been smart enough to ask her permission first BEFORE getting into all this mess. Like it or not, that entire universe is her intellectual property. I'm sure he's paying out the ass in legal fees, and he could have saved himself a lot of trouble. Warner Bros. can be a real bitch to go up against.
She already TRIED to work with him. Steve needs to GIVE UP.
He's not a UK fan! He lived over here until last year.
I think this is funny, I found it on the FAQ at this guy's site:
Your spell lists and character biographies are incredible. I have a web site of my own. May I copy your stuff and put it on my site?
Thanks for the compliment. I compile and write this for my own enjoyment and part of that enjoyment is knowing that others find it interesting and enjoyable too. And I understand that you'd really love to have the kind of quality work you find in the Lexicon for your own site. However, I don't give permission for people to just copy my work for their own use. Not only is that illegal, since everything in the Lexicon is copyrighted, it's also just plain wrong. Hey, I did all the work, I put in all the time, it's my skill and talent in this area which allowed the Lexicon to come into being. No one else has the right to use my work. The Lexicon is the only place on the web where Lexicon content may be displayed.
Sounds a bit ironic, right?
From what I understand, Rowling is mainly suing because it will take away from her profits for the encyclopedia that she intends to publish on Harry Potter herself.
She is a dumbass on this thought for two reasons:
1. Die-hard Harry Potter fans will buy both books anyway, so she isn't going to really have any of her precious profit taken away.
2. Steve Vander Ark's encyclopedia would contain information that can be found in the Harry Potter books themselves, while Rowling's encyclopedia will contain background information and stories on entries that readers would have otherwise never known. Hers would have been the one to buy for readers only looking to purchase one of the books, for including tons of extra information.
All she is doing is turning people off her and trying to make this into an issue that it isn't. I really have no desire to actually purchase hers now.
I'm a writer, and while I obviously wouldn't want people ganking my work and selling it as their own, I would be flattered if someone wanted to create an encyclopedia based on a work - instead of suing their ass off the bat, I would try to work out a financial arrangement that would benefit both of us.
What I don't understand is why Rowling and her publisher didn't try to work together with Ark before suing him. Obviously a HP lexicon is a goldmine, and so the only reason they haven't made one before must be that they haven't had the time. Why not just hire the guy, instead of creating this public relations ugliness?
Re: jay –
JK doesn't need to work with him because she's already BEEN writing an encyclopedia of the wizarding world and fans like me have been waiting forever for it to come out. She's going to sell it and donate the profits to charity..why should she let this guy in on her work and take away from the money she wants to donate?
I love the comments of all you bleeding heart liberals.."she haaass enough money..why doesn't she let him have some of itttt?" If he wants to make money, he can write his own damn book with his own damn characters. Really really liking a novel and being a super duper fan of the author isn't a job that you are paid for..yes she's loaded, and she's earned her money through hard work. Why do people think that people deserve to stop turning a profit after a certain amount of time? Since when is there a quota on success?
God, JK is SUCH A MONEY GRUBBING WHORE!! WHORE!!!
Okay, this is sad. All this over a book series? Don't get me wrong–I love HP and I despise plagerism and use of your characters without your permission…but come on now.
This is stealing period. He crossed the line of being a fan into an unhealthy and pointless obsession. There is no new information offered in this book, you could easily find it on wiki, or maybe try reading the actual books. This guy is playing the victim. Jo would not even gain any money from this, if anything she loses more from legal costs. And ps, she has stated for years that she wants to make her own encyclopedia and the profits will go to CHARITY helping lots of people. Who is this ass helping?
JK's a cunt.
Why the hell should ANYONE be allowed to steal the words, OR ideas. of someone whose brilliant imagination and writing talents made them successful? That was HER hard word and HER genius that did that. That idiot should go write his own books. A website is one thing, but PUBLISHING and claiming to be an expert on something that he didn't create in order to benefit financially is bullshit. He has no right to her words or ideas. NONE. The courts should nail his ass to the WALL. This is a serious deal. You cannot allow that to be established as precedent. He has NO character and is a thief.
Re: Trish – It is HER work- are you a thief? You'd have to be to think that she should allow someone to steal her stuff. She created a product that was WORTH a billion- if you think that is easy to accomplish that then YOU should try it, you no talent ass clown. Intellectual property is something you don't understand. And we can figure out why.
You people need to read up on Jo–she came from NOTHING. She was literally in the poor house and rose through her own brilliance and creativiity. It was because of her we had a resurrection of young readers. She shouldn't have to "work things out" with this guy–it is HER material. And yeah for her that she is filthy rich–she EARNED every penny of it!
IT IS HER MATERIAL AND BRAND PERIOD>
doesn't the old bitch have enough money? let him publish his little book, at the end of the day what difference is it really gonna make in her world?
i feel so sorry for that guy. he probably didnt think it was any big deal.
if you haven't already seen this CHECK IT OUT.. then JK Rowling can talk about plagiarism
http://harrypotterwars.ytmnd.com/
http://harrypotterwars.ytmnd.com/
CHECK IT OUT
Shes a GREEDY CUNT !
She's obviously bored. She needs to write more books and stop being such an biyotch!
I don't care how charming he is or how many crocodile tears he cries, you can't steel the creative output of another person and make a fortune off of it. That's called plagerism. Plus I read that there are great hunks of material lifted verbatim from JK's books.
This really maddens me. Authors these days only care about crediting themselves. It has nothing to do with great contributions to literature or sharing ideas with the world. JK Rowling should give him this privilege. It's not as if his books will be as successful as hers. Its not like her enormous fortune will crumble!
Basically shes just irritated that she didnt think of writing it, like fanfiction so she decided to claim that she owns any likeness of the harry potter characters, regardless of the cost and effort put in by others to evolve them and explain them in detail. Old greedy hag has some points but if anything it could be construed in part as parody because the guy was just trying to give more detail than Ms. Rowlings felt like providing…
Shes just another british Chaz
How much money does this BITCH need???????????????
People like this make be want to throw up!