It’s day two for the case and press coverage hasn’t abated at all, so off to Fandom Wank with you. (Must-reads for today: SVA cries, blames publisher and legal analysis by Praetorianguard.)
The Harry Potter Lexicon goes to court
There’s so much going on with this that I’m just going to point you towards Cleolinda’s post on Fandom Wank.
If you don’t want to delve straight into the snark, check out the articles from the Associated Press, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and CNN.
Harry Potter fans behaving badly, part whatever
It’s been a while since we checked in on the Harry Potter Lexicon case, but yesterday’s developments plumb a new low – RDR Books requested a copy of Rowling’s notes for her own encyclopedia, claiming:
…David Hammer, lawyer for RDR… says that the notes are requested in order to “test the merits” of J.K. Rowling’s claims that she is going to write an encyclopedia and that part of the reason for suppressing the HPL would be to suppress potential competition. RDR asked for “copies of any prepatory materials that Ms. Rowling has drafted or authorized to be drafted, including notes, outlines, drafts, marketing proposals, etc.”
And I ask again: Are these people for real? Has she not out and out said several times that’s she’s writing one? Rowling and the WB’s response:
JKR/WB object to what it sees as RDR’s “pattern of writing the Court whenever it wishes without first making any effort to meet and confer, let alone giving sufficient advance notice of its intended communication with the Court”…. JKR’s “overwhelmingly sensitive” notes would serve “no legitimate purpose other than to harass Ms. Rowling. Rather, the burden of producing these notes far outweighs any benefit to RDR in obtaining them.”
You can catch up on other recent developments on Fandom Wank, thanks to the seemingly tireless Cleolinda and friends.
Eighth Potter book?
JK Rowling told Time magazine that she hasn’t ruled out an eighth book in the Harry Potter series.
“If – and it’s a big if – I ever write an eighth book, I doubt that Harry would be the central character. I feel I’ve already told his story,” she said. “But these are big ifs. Let’s give it 10 years.”
Anyone else thinking prequel?
JKR has also updated her official site with a chart showing some of the marriages and spawnings of many of the characters (get to it by clicking the pink eraser and then the door handle). George hooked up with Angelina, it’s James Sirius Potter and Charlie never married (and the slashers rejoiced!).
Amazon buys Beedle the Bard
Yep. As in Amazon, the hawker of books, DVDs and, oddly, cosmetics and power tools.
While they aren’t reprinting the stories (yet), they do have pictures of the book and a review (with spoilers) of the tale “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot.” They will apparently be adding more reviews and photos in the future.
Bloody hell!
The Leaky Cauldron is reporting that JK Rowling’s hand-written and illustrated copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard has sold at auction for nearly
Beedle the Bard makes premiere
JK Rowling previewed The Tales of Beedle the Bard at a reading of The Deathly Hallows in London.
One of the seven hand-written and illustrated copies of the fairy tales, which featured prominently in the last Harry Potter book, will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s later this week to benefit Rowling’s Children’s Voice charity. It is expected to fetch as much as
Yet more on the HP Lexicon
There’s a post from Steve Vander Ark over on the Lexicon blog, an email from the past where he discourages other fans from publishing an encyclopedia and acknowledges it as illegal (but he planned to “plan to petition Jo to allow the Lexicon to work with her to create the ultimate Harry Potter encyclopedia.”) Again: Classy.
The piece de resistance is perhaps a video of Vander Ark at the Prophecy 2007 conference. (“Jo has quit; she’s done… we’re taking over now!” and “Jo has every right to write her seventh book… but I have a real problem with her claiming from now until 2017.”) The sentiment is something we’re familiar with here in Star Wars fandom, but when one is planning to take your fandom project and sell it without permission for $25 a pop, it sounds a lot more sinister. The 501st you’re not, bud.
See it all over at Fandom Wank, since that’s where I’m stealing links from anyway.
Continuing adventures in HP legal
The case of the Harry Potter Lexicon vs. J.K. Rowling grows more tangled. Fandom Wank is on the case, naturally, and Cleolinda even posts a handy roundup in her personal Livejournal.
The highlight? The publisher updated their website FAQ with a comment comparing the situation to “the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Classy.
The very definition of facepalm
Harry Potter fansite was going to (basically) publish their site in book form. So J.K. Rowling files suit. Shocking!
UPDATE: Rowling speaks, as does the Lexicon’s publisher.