I only hope that justice is serve to all the parties involve and that they do as the judge tell them.

I agree with tiassa and ambulance and maeru. :)

Thanks to ghosthunterx and Rose37 for your support. (But Rose37, I am not sure you understood what I meant since you hope JKR loses. I certainly hope she wins.) I have been on both sides of this coin as an editor at a publishing company and also a freelance writer. In fact, as an editor I worked on a teacher's guide to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. We had to meet with copyright attorneys and read up on fair use extensively. If anyone is interested in better understanding fair use and what is being considered, I recommend: http://www.li b.umn.edu/copyright/fairu se.phtml For those of you who think this lawsuit is petty, I must respectfully beg to differ. This is an extremely important case, not just because the verdict may affect whether JKR writes her encyclopedia or because it may change the nature of fandom and fan sites. Copyright law is notoriously murky and gray, and becomes more so every day because of the access granted by the Internet. The precedent this case may set could determine how other copyright cases are decided. As for this being Jo's "Baby," to me that's not as much the issue as is the fact that the lexicon does not have enough original material to be considered an entirely new work, that it lifts a lot of text directly from the books without using citation, that Jo's works are creative and not factual, and that Jo is on record as saying she wanted to do her own encyclopedia

FYI for those of you who think she is doing this to get more money she's not. ALL the proceeds from her encyclopedia go to charity. try reading before you put down rude comments like that.

merlin pants!!! that hammer guy is really getting on my nerves. he is not letting jk to finish the sentence.this itself shows that they have got a weak point. anyway i wish jk wins this case. just an open announcement or atleast a request to all the harry potter fans out there in the world and also to some of you people who have supported rdr in this comment section:AS WE ARE ALL HARRY POTTER FANS I THINK WE SHOULD UNDERSTAND WHAT JKR IS GOING THROUGH AND SUPPORT JKR. WE ALL LOVED THE SERIES AND JKR LOVES IT MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD HOW CAN SHE STAND SOMEONE, UPON WHOM SHE HAD FAITH AND RESPECT, PLAGERISE IN THE SENSE JUST WRITE A GUIDE WHICH IS WORTHLESS AND KIND OF INSULTS HER WHOLE HARD WORK.and by the way i read someone's comment above saying jkr is already rich enough and that she is not letting rdr to make money. jkr doesn't care about money its her work and an very important point is that she is not going to have the money for herself,she is going to give it to charity. i just hope she wins this case

I don't think it's about the money at all, alien. I think that Jo Rowling is addicted to the spotlight and "control" over a phenomenon that quite simply will not be controlled. Nobody is going to buy this book anyway, and anyone who does is going to buy hers as well. No charity is going to lose money over this, so what really is her problem? Amusement parks, I guess, are o.k. Bastardized movie versions of her "baby" are o.k. Lockstep fans running lockstep sites are o.k. Let's see, what's not o.k.: Positive book reviews subverting her publishers big marketing plan, fansites physically printing material they are offering freely on the internet with her blessing and recognition. My eyes are rolling so far back into my head over her antics and over-dramatization that I'm afraid they'll be stuck there for good. George Lucas doesn't call his lawyer every time Robot Chicken puts out another Star Wars clip, or Chad Vader strolls through the supermarket. He seems to understand that obsessive fans are a good thing. This Lexicon book is nothing more than a fan's scrapbook ... if there are people who'll buy it, let 'em. It won't hurt the HP brand AT ALL. If she's so concerned about the inferiority of the product, then she should go back home and WRITE HER ENCYCLOPEDIA which I'll bet we won't see for another 5 years.

My opinion is split two ways. Firstly, this case made my opinion of JKR go down a few notches. I suppose I can understand her point, but some of her comments are way over the top. "I dont want to cry because I'm british" and some crap about being deeply betrayed etc. are just a bit much. On the other side, HP is hers, and direct copying without permission is wrong. However, the point of "lazy, messy work" is not means to stop the publication, and I cant believe they said that. (Although, it does seem very lazy.) Overall, this case should never have gone to court. JKR must be very confident she'll win, because if she doesnt it will be humiliating, and fans world wide will freak out. Again, however, I do understand her point, and I would be upset if this happened to me too. If she wins, which she probably will, then okay, if she loses, I'm afraid I might understand. Please dont take me wrong, overall I am on her side. (I am 50% mindless fan.)

I am absolutely seething with anger at some of the diatribe being posted in these comments. The reason JKR is so angry, as I see it, is that SVA has literally copied her work and is trying to pass it off as his own, he is claiming to be the "author" of this book when all he has done is rearrange facts that were created by JKR. JKR has worked long and hard to create HP and it is being stolen before her eyes, and represented as if by someone else. Has no-one ever heard of principle? The worst thing is that the Lexicon is a culmination of hundreds of fans' work not a one-man operation. SVA, in my opinion, is nothing but a parasitic limpit who is trying to make money off the back of this phenomenon that is HP and it's fans. Finally I would like to point out to those JKR haters out there that without her none of this would exist- none. Finally- Americans questioning someone's greed?: the words pot, kettle and black come to mind. P.S. Tonia: take a xanex or something and chill the hell out.

I know I wrote "Finally" twice, forgive me- I'm British, so I'm obviosly not the best writer.lol.

cheescakians?!?!?! hiiiiiiiiiiiii niglets

veedom1 - WELL SAID! I agree completely. You said what I was thinking. What SVA has done is nothing short of theft. Anyone would be upset by seeing another person take what is rightfully theirs and selling it as if that person owned it. It belongs to Jo, she spent 17 years creating it and to have someone (a fan even) turn around and take it and claim that he can call it his own work is horrible.

harry potter is world famous and it has got a lot of fans around the world and this lexicon person is trying to use hp's popularity to make money.FYI tonia, sometimes you just can't leave the matter and not be bothered about it. there are so many harry potter guides and glossary like the wonderful world of harry potter and many other books but did JKR comment on any of these books? i don't think so. the reason she is fighting is because that lexicon person has just copied the exact lines from the book and has claimed : this is my original book and don't copy.and the very important point is that he has given wrong meanings to many spells and terms used in hp like alohomora and remus lupin for example.tonia you are saying that no one is going to buy this book. you are wrong. how can anyone be sure about that. there might be many people who haven't read hp but want to but don't have the patience or money. they might just get this book and have a rough about but it contains wrong explanations.and the important point is that IF SHE KEEPS ON ALLOWING THE PEOPLE TO WRITE WHATEVER THEY LIKE ABOUT HP, ONE DAY THERE IS GOING TO BE SOMEONE WHO IS GOING TO TAKE HER STORY AND WRITE ANOTHER HARRY POTTER BOOK EIGHT. and that time when goes to the court, the judge will ask why she has allowed many hp glossary and guides but not the hp 8.only a person who has written a book leaving her children and other stuff just for the story can understand her point. she might have spent so much time to search for these words while someone has written it all wrong and her 17 years of work.

i really like jkr's lawyer so far -- the one who made the opening statement. she seems to really understand the fandom. plus, she even quotes Dumbledore!

It seems to me that this RDR publisher and in particular this Rapoport character is a first-rate grub, and should be taken to the cleaners by Jo and Warner Bros. Rapoport dead set lied to Vander Ark saying this book would be legal, when it was probably blindingly obvious to him that it was NOT legal. Vander Ark would not have signed the contract had he recieved PROPER legal advice about the legality of it. Rapoport was trying to sell the book overseas to other publishers as soon as possible in time for Christmas, to have the thing placed next to Deathly Hallows books in bookshops before it was even written. Vander Ark found out early that RDR were up to no good, therefore requested the clause in the contract indemnifying him against copyright lawsuits. Vander Ark has testified that he believes RDR are up to no good, are untrustworthy and will never work with them again.

http://anyamarcos.livejou rnal.com/7647.html Che ck out my livejournal. The anonymous posts in all caps are by "phoenixknight."

When I first heard of this news I assumed, like many of you, that J.K Rowling was doing this for selfish reasons. However, after reading a lot of the transcript, I can clearly see I'm wrong. If you guys read the first day of the court session when they start questioning Jo, you can really see her true reasons behind all this. It's not for money or fame, etc., these are her books that she graciously decided will give the royalties to charity and for someone like SVA to make an encyclopedia where he basically plagiarizes the whole thing, the atrocities are clear.

ANd JKR also brings up the point that what happens if RDR publish their 'Harry Potter Encyclopedia' and JKR wants to revisit her own work in 5 or so years to bring out her own HP encyclopedia? Does RDR have the ability to sue JKR for infringing RDR's copyright on their book? The trial judge dismissed that when brought up in summary, but I can see two sides to that argument as well. More money for the lawyers......

Having read both the first and second day. It seems to me that it's a very close case. I do understand JK Rowling's concern. She is only trying to protect her work that she has done for the past 17 years? Although she is getting a little paranoid, thinking that steve would sue her for her own works, BUT I still get why she is doing this. But I also do understand Steve Vander Ark's reason for making the lexicon encyclopedia. He is only a fan who wishes to make things easier for the rest of the fan community by creating a quick reference. It didnt have any of the special background information and essays that other books have because he wasn't trying to make something informative like that. He was just trying to create a quick reference for future fan fiction writers and other fans who wish to create something based on Harry Potter and have fun while doing it. The one at fault here is RDR. They were obviously trying to make a quick buck. Steve had asked if making a book version of the Lexicon would be legal and they said it was. They lied to steve and over exaggerated to other potential buyers.They were the ones who went ahead and sent a letter to ask for money for using steve's timeline. The victims here are Steve and JK. I believe that JK should win this case and that RDR should be sued. But, Steve should be allowed to publish his lexicon book... Unless JK feels strongly that the lexicon shouldnt exist. Mostly because I still want her to write her encyclopedia.

I have yet to read the third day. I will when I have the time. BUT for those who have only read the first day, please please try reading the second day and see Vander Ark's side of things.

Seriously, if the court decides against Steve Van Der Ark, free-use policies across the UK will be shot. This is such a high profile case that the precedent set would, without a doubt, be practically irrefutable. I think JK is making a mistake in continuing this lawsuit. I'm not saying RDR and Van Der Ark are in the right, but JK is certainly in the wrong.

Like if anybody needed to ask her those questions to Rowling! I mean the ones of her life... Well, maybe the court didn't know Rowling's story :rolleyes:

"MS. CENDALI: Can you put up on the screen from Exhibit 1, The Lexicon, the first page of the entry for Voldemort. Forgive me for speaking the name." LOL, that was unproffesional.

*rolls eyes* You know, narrowmindedness can go both ways. For example, you can say that people that are against JK are discriminating her because of who she is and how popular she is, but, you know, there's another side to that coin. I think the thing that irks me the most about JKR's case is this sob story about how she wrote the book for 17 years. You know what? Who cares? JK, go and tell the judge about your terrible hardships when you first began, you complainer. You are on the top of the world right now; we do not need to hear about your 'rise to fame'. That aside: SVA and RDR should win. It is basically a book of what they already have on a website, and seeing as JK supported the website wholeheartedly this is definitely a case about money. JK, WHO CARES if you don't get one billion trillion sales for your encyclopedia? Charity obviously isn't the issue as you have more than enough money to donate to charity. Your cult fan base will buy your encyclopedia come what may. SVA is not claiming to own Harry Potter. Therefore, it cannot be considered plagiarism. He is being a good fan, and I just cannot believe how rudely he is being treated. Just... this really makes me angry at JKR. It's so unnecessary. She has even said that the information organized by SVA has helped her while writing, so doesn't she owe them?

Tonia, I agree with you wholeheartedly, also.