The JKR/RDR/SVA case

[pegkerr]

If you said, "Huh?" after reading the title of this post, you are clearly not in the Harry Potter fandom and have no idea of the DRAMA going on in a New York courtroom this week, so feel free to skip.

I wrote about this case before. There are excellent commentaries over at praetorianguard's journal and chaeche's posts at fandom_lawyers.

I still can't believe that Steve did it. I considered myself friends with him back when we worked together on the HPEF Board of Directors. I just can't imagine what he was thinking. It's extremely painful to watch him destroy his relationship with someone he absolutely idolized because he was either a) inexplicably greedy and/or b) inexplicably stupid. I don't know which it is, but watching from afar, either alternative feels awful.

I hope and expect JKR to win this case. I don't know if and how Steve can pick up the pieces of his life again when it's over. (And that's not even the considering the possibility that praetorianguard raised that his erstwhile publisher RDR might turn around and sue him because of the irregularities in the indemnity clause in the contract.) He'd quit his job, and cut himself off by his own actions from the HP community he loved and reveled in.

Hubris indeed.

Comments

[arian1.livejournal.com]

I'm tired of all the "Well she has so much money" arguments on this one from one side of the fanbase. This guy got greedy and got a little acknowledgement and decided to run with it. He should have initiated a dialogue at the least and at the VERY least realized that (and forgive me if I shout):

IT'S HER IDEAS. HER WORK. HER STUFF. YOU DON'T GET FREE RUN WITH IT. FAIR USE DOES NOT APPLY.

I work in IP enforcement professionally and I'll tell you what, this trial shouldn't have even taken a week. It should take about an hour. The judge should say, "It's her IP buddy. Take a hike."

You nailed it with hubris. This guy got that most common of fan reactions when you get that little bit of acknowledgment from your idol. He spun it up that he could do what he wanted to because "JKR liked my site! She gave me an award!" That does not make you BFF. This is the one thing that tends to rub me the wrong way with fandom, people taking it for granted and forgetting at the end of the day it's a business, not a tea party.

I hope this guy gets his ass handed to him large.

[knitmeapony.livejournal.com]

Hubris perhaps, but in terms of copyright law I honestly hope JKR loses. Yes, he was a dick about a lot of what he did, but in many ways he's in the right in terms of commentary and academic fair use.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Tell me why you didn't take two sentences to explain what is going on.

K.

[febobe.livejournal.com]

I personally am hoping to see JKR "beat the pants off" this guy. I'm afraid if she doesn't, it will set a dangerous precedent within copyright law. Personally I think copyright law is clear enough that this should have taken all of two seconds. . .I feel sorry for that woman having to come over here and spend a week defending her own work, for crying out loud. Good grief.

[baldanders.livejournal.com]

It sure looks to me like this is far from cut-and-dried. There's plenty of precedent for encyclopedias, lexicons, etc. The "dangerous precedent" one commenter speaks of was set long ago. If anything, I see the possibility of a dangerous precedent being set where an author with a lot of money and legal power can shut down a project she doesn't like whether it's fair use or not. (Whether the guy acted like a dick ought to be irrelevant legally.)

[chaeche.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. I put up a copy of my two posts here at fandom_lawyers so people who aren't on my flist can read them. Do you mind changing the link in your original post?

Although praetorianguard and I have differing views on the strength of the Lexicon's fair use claim, I think her analysis is very good. I didn't catch the indemnity issue that she picked up on (I'm a a patent lawyer and usually only deal with patent licenses). However I don't think RDR would bother suing Steve. The guy isn't loaded and they would never recover their legal costs.

So sadly I think this is going to turn out badly for everyone.

[airemay.livejournal.com]

I keep thinking about the wonderful presentation he made at Lumos about finding Harry, rediscovering why we love him and what not. It definitely made some people tear up! The whole thing makes me sad.

(by the way, your turnover recipe was fantastic!!!!!)