J.K. Rowling sues to block unauthorized Harry Potter book

[The Amazing Spider-Man]

I'd buy it There needs to be a section with the mod's heads badly photoshopped on the teh sexy pichurs

I nearly forgot about that.

 

[jaguarr]

I'd buy it There needs to be a section with the mod's heads badly photoshopped on the teh sexy pichurs

That's the cover. It features Morg and Danger Mouse. Perhaps I have said too much.

jag

 

[The Lizard]

Looks like this Potter Encyclopedia drama is in the news again...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080414/us_nm/harrypotter_lawsuit_dc


Now Rowling is saying that she "might not have the heart" to publish her own Potter reference book if the unauthorized book is allowed to be published.

That's kind of slick and manipulative on her part, although I can understand her point. I guess she's figured out that threatening to not publish her own book is the quickest way to turn HP fans against the author of the unauthorized guide.

 

[Poetic Chaos]

lol, nice move Jo. It'll work but wow, what a *****. It's sweet because she's given the Lexicon awards on her own site in the past.

 

[Aristotle]

That is ********. The HP-Lexicon material appears to be independent scholarly essays. There really is no confusion, in a literary scholar's mind, between independently researched and written essays, and an author's definitive reference work.

Then again, we're talking about a sub-mediocre children's book series with oversimplified postmodern themes that only encourages a sort of Pokemon attitude towards readership, and seems more concerned with making a buck than with any kind of artistic merit. So maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

 

[Matt]

lol, nice move Jo. It'll work but wow, what a *****. It's sweet because she's given the Lexicon awards on her own site in the past.

I think whats bothering her, is the proceeds from the Encyclopedia are going to go to charity. Why should the Lexicon owners have the right to cut into that to make a profit from themselves?

 

[Matt]

That is ********. The HP-Lexicon material appears to be independent scholarly essays. There really is no confusion, in a literary scholar's mind, between independently researched and written essays, and an author's definitive reference work.

Not really. It is character biographies, descriptions of things and places, events in the books, etc. It is an encyclopedia that they are trying to publish.Not a scholarly essay.

Then again, we're talking about sub-mediocre children's books with oversimplified postmodern themes that only encourages a sort of Pokemon attitude towards readership,

How so, exactly?

and seems more concerned with making a buck than with any kind of artistic merit. So maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

Well, being as the proceeds are going to charity, I doubt that to be the case.

 

[Alex The Great]

That's the cover. It features Morg and Danger Mouse. Perhaps I have said too much.

jag

SuperHero Hupe Encyclopedia: Biogrophy of Mee. 3 letters. 1 legend

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_en_ot/harry_potter_lawsuit

I like where the guy publishing this book says that he "can't understand why [Rowling] wouldn't be supportive" of his book. Gee, maybe because you're rushing to release an unauthorized HP encyclopedia that will compete directly with Rowling's own planned encyclopedia? $$$ - duh.

Well, I say let them have at it with their competing books. I'd like to see who comes up with the better resource. And furthermore alot of authors and their estates should sue Rowling for ripping off their characters, especially J.R.R. Tolkien's family. There are alot of characters in Rowling's book that are quite similar to characters like Gandalf, etc. etc. And those "Whomping Willows" sound alot like Huorns to me.

 

[Poetic Chaos]

I just don't see it cutting into what she's trying to do. Anyone who plans to buy her book is going to whether they have the unofficial version already or not. It's a companion piece for the fans by some fans. I don't see any difference from any other works based on HP. She had the heart to write Deathly Hollows with 500+ fanfictions already out there.

 

[Matt]

Well, I say let them have at it with their competing books. I'd like to see who comes up with the better resource. And furthermore alot of authors and their estates should sue Rowling for ripping off their characters, especially J.R.R. Tolkien's family. There are alot of characters in Rowling's book that are quite similar to characters like Gandalf, etc. etc. And those "Whomping Willows" sound alot like Huorns to me.

Spoken like someone who has never read a Harry Potter book.

Despite their appereances (which is simply a classic wizard archtype. By your logic Gandalf is a cheap rip-off of Merlin), Gandalf and Dumbledore could not be more different of characters.

And the whomping willow (singular) is no more like the Huorns than any other plant that can attack from any other medium (be it Audrey 2 from Little Shop of Horrors or the zombie Plants from Resident Evil).

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

Spoken like someone who has never read a Harry Potter book.

And I don't ever intend on reading something like the Harry Potter series. At 35 I'd feel weird reading a series of books for children.

 

[Poetic Chaos]

And I don't ever intend on reading something meant for children. At 35 I'd feel weird reading a series of books for children.

Yet you still pass judgement on it's plot and characters without knowing a thing about them

 

[terry78]

If anyone should be doing the artwork for this book, it should be someone that has the appeal of a Bryan Hitch, the down to earthness of a Mark Bagley, and the ****ty nature of an Ed Benes.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

And I don't ever intend on reading something like the Harry Potter series. At 35 I'd feel weird reading a series of books for children.

Nice way to generalize things, the first books were somewhat childish, but the series definitely evolved from those simple beginnings into something much more adult. The evolution is a lot like the evolution in tone from the Hobbit (a children's book) to Lord of the Rings.

 

[knowsbleed]

I know that you're not comparing the actual HP books to LotR's. You're only comparing the progression. But still... those two sets of books shouldn't even be muttered in the same sentence.

 

[Aristotle]

I know that you're not comparing the actual HP books to LotR's. You're only comparing the progression. But still... those two sets of books shouldn't even be muttered in the same sentence.

No, they really shouldn't.

 

[raybia]

This gives me an idea.

We should publish a book using material from the SHH forums!

Superhero character histories and debate from the hero boards and political commentary, religious debate and general witticisms from Community. I smell NY Times bestseller list!

I'm all ready writing it. It should be out late 2009.

 

[Tempest19]

I'm already publishing the SHH book though under the name Josh Walker. All your names have been changed as well to comic book character names that fit your personality, it was fun making the book and the Penguin company is paying me about a thousand dollars. Due to the hype around superheroes recently and they see it as a NY TIMES Best Seller.

 

[The Lizard]

Ha ha -- Jo Rowling made the pansy cry in court...

http://www.yahoo.com/s/858646

 

[danoyse]

And I don't ever intend on reading something like the Harry Potter series. At 35 I'd feel weird reading a series of books for children.

I'm almost your age and not only were the HP books recommended to me by another adult...I've read both the American and British versions of the books. They're great, my whole family loves them.

I commute into NYC every day and see plenty of adults reading HP books on the bus. I was reading one of my UK version of Book 5 the week Deathly Hallows was released, and two people stopped me to ask if that was the new one because they'd never seen that cover before.

As far as the court case, I do feel bad for the guy because it's got to be devastating to be accused of stealing from your idol and having to face her in court...but at the same time I think Rowling should have first ownership of her characters. The publishing company really screwed this one up.

 

[Captain_BluTac]

I'm almost your age and not only were the HP books recommended to me by another adult...I've read both the American and British versions of the books. They're great, my whole family loves them.

I commute into NYC every day and see plenty of adults reading HP books on the bus. I was reading one of my UK version of Book 5 the week Deathly Hallows was released, and two people stopped me to ask if that was the new one because they'd never seen that cover before.

Which cover was it the Black and Gold cover or the Yellow and Orange cover?

 

[Victarion]

I'm already publishing the SHH book though under the name Josh Walker. All your names have been changed as well to comic book character names that fit your personality, it was fun making the book and the Penguin company is paying me about a thousand dollars. Due to the hype around superheroes recently and they see it as a NY TIMES Best Seller.

What's my comic character name and what is my personality?

I don't see what the fuss is. From what I read, the guy didn't go to Rowling first to get the okay for his encyclopedia. Plus she was planning to do one, so I see how he could have stepped on her toes. Finally, its her story and characters, and she can do whatever she wants with them.

 

[Aristotle]

And I don't ever intend on reading something like the Harry Potter series. At 35 I'd feel weird reading a series of books for children.

Wait...this from a guy who posts on a superhero message board?

 

[danoyse]

Which cover was it the Black and Gold cover or the Yellow and Orange cover?

Order of the Phoenix is yellow and orange with a phoenix on the cover. That was the one I was reading that day.

The judge in this case sounds like an idiot. Apparently, he didn't even understand the first book:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3768307.ece

J. K. Rowling heard her work described as “gibberish” by a US judge yesterday at the end of a three-day trial into an unauthorised encyclopaedia of her Harry Potter novels.

Rowling has asked the federal court in New York to block publication of The Harry Potter Lexicon, a guide to the characters, places and spells in her novels, written by Steven Vander Ark, 50, a former school librarian.

District Judge Robert Patterson Jr said that he had read the first half of the first Harry Potter novel to his grandchildren, but found the “magical world hard to follow, filled with strange names and words that would be gibberish in any other context.

“I found it extremely complex,” he said, suggesting that a reference guide might be useful.

Rowling said she was “vehemently anti-censorship; and generally supportive of the right of other authors to write books about her novels”. But she said Vander Ark had “plundered” her prose and merely reprinted it in an A-to-Z format.

A decision in the case is not expected soon. It will be weeks before lawyers finish filing documents, and possibly longer before a verdict is given. Judge Patterson is deciding the case, rather than a jury.

If he was so confused, I'm sure he could have found plenty of 8-year-olds to help him understand it.