Prayers For Lexicon Steve

[Steve]

---  "Lee Storm(God Is The Healing Force)" <n2fgc at ...> wrote:
>
> I just saw a thing on WABC about JKR and Steve to be in 
> Federal Court in Manhattan tomorrow.  Uh--I don't understand
> the whole thing, but I'm sure routing for Steve.
> 
> Best of luck!
> 
> Lee

bboyminn:

I'm very conflicted on this issue. On one hand, I wonder if
this has nothing to do with JKR, but is Warner Bros. asserting
their right to Harry Potter. 

As to the assertion that the corporation is automatically right,
keep in mind, even when they know they are wrong, a corporation
can force its belief into the market by burying a defendant in
money and lawyers. Most people, even most smaller corporations
simply don't have the financial resources to sustain the 
outrageous cash flow required to fight a big corporation. 
A big corporation can prevent what they want to prevent by
tying the defendant up in court for years, until such time
as the book (or whatever) becomes irrelevant or the defendant
simply runs out of money and other resources. 

You don't need to be right, and you don't even need to win, if
you have enough money to sustain the fight indefinitely.

As to whether the Lexicon 'copies' JKR's work, let's look 
as some examples.

--- Encyclopedia of Spells ----

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/magic/spells/spells_a.html

Accio (AK-ee-oh or A-see-oh)
"Summoning Charm"

"accio" L. send for, summon

Accio Causes an object to fly to the caster, even over quite some
distance; the target object is said to have been Summoned. It would
seem that the caster must know at least the general location of the
object Summoned.

    * Mrs. Weasley used a series of Summoning Charms to find the
magical items Fred and George were trying to sneak out of the house at
the time of the Quidditch World Cup (GF6).
    * Harry learned the Summoning Charm for the first task, when he
Summoned his Firebolt to him so he could fly around and past the
Hungarian Horntail (GF20).
    * The fake Moody used a Summoning Charm to grab the Marauder's Map
off the stairs on the night Harry solved the golden egg clue (GF25).
    * Harry used this charm to call the Triwizard Cup to him while
escaping Voldemort and the Death Eaters (GF34).
    * Accio Brain! by Mary GrandPré Used several times during the
Battle of the Department of Mysteries by both sides. The most notable
instances were by Death Eaters attempting to pull the prophecy sphere
from Harry's hands, by Hermione to pick up wands after a Disarming
Spell hit, and most memorably by Ron in the Brain Room after he'd been
knocked silly (OP35).
    * Harry attempted to cast this nonverbally to Summon his wand into
his hand after Draco Malfoy had hit him with a Full-Body Bind, but
Harry couldn't make the spell work at the time (HBP8). Harry had a
similar problem when his wand was knocked out of his hand during his
fight with Nagini at Godric's Hollow (DH17).
    * Harry used this to Summon Rosmerta's brooms so that he and Albus
Dumbledore could return quickly to the castle on the night of the
Battle of the Tower (HBP27).
    * Harry cast this on Hagrid (DH4).
    * Hermione used this to steal the Horcrux books - library books
that he had taken out of circulation - from Dumbledore's study (DH6).
    * Harry used this to Summon his glasses (DH7).
    * Fred Summoned hairs from a Muggle boy in Ottery St. Catchpole in
order to help Harry disguise himself using Polyjuice Potion (DH8).
    * Hermione used this to try to Summon the locket Horcrux in
Regulus' room (DH10). Harry similarly attempted to Summon it in
Umbridge's office at the Ministry (DH13).
    * An object can be placed under counter-enchantments to prevent it
being summoned magically. The stone basin in the Horcrux cave and
Hufflepuff's cup in Gringotts had both been placed under such
counter-enchantments (DH10, (DH26).
    * NOTE: The pronunciation of this spell has been debated by fans.

The "official" pronunciation from Scholastic is "A-see-oh." This is
the pronunciation used in the audio version of the books. The word is
Latin, however, and in Latin the letter C is always pronounced 'hard,'
the same as the letter K. Some languages which are descended from
Latin, such as Italian, pronounce 'cc' as 'ch,' but this is almost
certainly not correct.

--- end quote ---

I see nothing in there that is a direct rip-off of JKR. The 
Lexicon defines a spell in a way that is implied by never truly
explained in the books. It gives a definition, reference to 
where it can be found in the books, and how it is used, but 
never is it presented in a format that is found in the books.
It is conversation, discussional, and analytical, as it should
be for a work like this.


Here's another-

---- WHICH WIZARD - Who's Who in the Wizarding World ----

- - The Black Family - - 

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/blackfamily.html


Sirius Black (1845-1853?)
Older sibling of Phineas Nigellus, Elladora, and Isla. Died 
when he was around 8 years old.
Possible name derivation: Sirius=seirios (Greek) meaning 
"burning;" Sirius=the "Dog Star," the brightest one in the 
Canis Major ("Great Dog") constellation.

Phineas Nigellus Black by Lisa M. Rourke. 
Phineas Nigellus Black (1847-1925)
Parentage not given (BFT).
Three siblings: Sirius, Elladora, and Isla (BFT).
Hogwarts: Slytherin (first year 1858 or 1859); later Hogwarts Headmaster.
Married to Ursula Flint (BFT).
Five children: Sirius (1877-1952) husband of Hesper Gamp, 
Phineas (disowned, dates unknown), Cygnus (1889-1943) husband 
of Violetta Bulstrode; Belvina (1886-1962); Arcturus (1884-1959)
(BFT). Great-great-grandfather of Sirius Black, who has been 
known to refer to him as the least-popular Headmaster Hogwarts
has ever had (OP6).

- - - End Quote - - - 

This is a compilation of data from diverse sources. This seems
fair use as many compilations of data similar to this have 
been legally created for other series of books such as 'Lord
of the Rings'.

This book it truly a Lexicon, a compilation of known data about
a given fictional world, and I believe this is considered
fair use and valid literary inquiry.

Now, I haven't actually seen the books itself, so there may be
things different form the on-line Lexicon. I'm sure however
the judge in the matter rules, it will be fair, but I think if
very unfair that this suit was brought against Steve V and his
small publishing company when they have so little means to 
defend themselves. 

I believe a law school professor and a team of his students
have volunteered to work with Steve V. for free to help him
defend what they belief is an unjust and unnecessary law
suit.

Again, many corporations sue simply because they know the
defendant can never marshal the resources to defend himself,
and even if he can, they can keep him tied up in court for
so many years that his case and his book become irrelevant.

Money is power; he who has the money has the power, and that's
the way life is.

I do see the Lexicon as an original work /based on/ another
work that fall in the copyright guide lines that allow
encyclopedias and other compilations of raw data, and I do 
think the Lexicon does contain enough original work.

I think it is heart breaking that two people who up until 
this point has a very cordial relationship, are now at
each other's throat using teams of lawyers as weapons. Very
sad indeed.

But as I said, to some extent, I think JKR is just along
for the ride. She is bound by obligation to participate in
a law suit brought and promoted by others with a vested 
interest in the Harry Potter franchise.

Personally, I hope Steve V. wins, likely he does need the
money, but JKR and Warner do not. 

Steve/bboyminn