Prayers For Lexicon Steve

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "kempermentor"
<kempermentor at ...> wrote:
>
> 
> > >bboyminn:
> > > 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.
>  
> > zgirnius:
> > Yes, Stanford Law School's Fair Use Project is helping out
> > with the case. ...
> 
> Kemper now:
> First to Steve's post: It's not about the money. There have 
> been many books about Potter that haven't been ok'd by WB or
> JKR.  What you've quoted from the lexicon is from the books 
> or interviews, but Steve V doesn't add critical/ philosophical/
> spiritual/ psychological/etc commentary to JKR's work. Yes, 
> the Lexicon does have essays but the encyclopedia as I've 
> understood it would be printed without those essays.
> 

bboyminn:

Oh, it's about the money all right. Though I don't think JKR
personally cares about the money, but you can bet Warner and
every other vested interest does.

Second, what I've quoted from the Lexicon is NOT /FROM/
the books or interviews, it is /ABOUT/ the books or interviews
written in SteveV's own words. He does not copy or quote
anything from anywhere beyond normal 'fair use'. 

The /From/ and /About/ aspect is at the heart of the matter.
You say he doesn't add critical, philosophical, spiritual,
etc commentary to his book, well neither does the World Book
Encyclopedia. It, like the Lexicon, is simply a compilation 
of data arranged in a structured and ordered way that is NOT
available from any other source. There is not a single thing
in either of my sample quoted that come DIRECTLY from books
or interviews. It is unique and originally written information
compiled and written by Steve ABOUT those books and interviews
and in my opinion, that makes it fair game.

Steve has created a reference books. A Spell is defined, the
origins of the incantations are researched, and references to
where this Spell can be found in the books is listed. Not one
bit of that other than the word 'Accio' comes from the books
or from interviews.


> Kemper:
> 
> I feel if Steve V wins it could limit what fans of future 
> writers might want to do (fanfic/art/movie/sites/etc) because
> then those writers will have to fight for control of their 
> work which would hurt developing a fan base.  ...
> 

bboyminn:

Quite the opposite, if JKR wins 'reference works' which were
previously allowed, will not no longer be allowed. This is
an expansion of the rights of the author of an original work,
but it is the contraction of the rights of people to write
reference, speculation, and commentary on existing works. 

Consider this, the average college student, and even high
school student must draw on existing knowledge, that is,
existing written works, to write essays and term papers.
They are allowed to take information from other written
works and include them in their own, and this included
reference and statistical data, but they can't directly
quote their references beyond fair use. They must compile
the data and information they collect into their own words,
but that doesn't change the fact that their own words are 
drawn from other sources.

A extremely vast majority of the Lexicon is compiled data
written in SteveV's own words. 

And for the record, there are several essay written by
SteveV on the Lexicon. Now Steve any not be able to include
the essay written by others and submitted to the Lexicon 
because of copyright and compensation issue, but certainly
SteveV can include all of his own analytical essays. 

Just because some one writes about the Alamo doesn't mean
they are laying claim to every reference ever written about
that subject. And in this case, they would simply be 
compiling a compendium or lexicon of all the other examples
of books describing or referencing the Alamo. 

Again, I haven't seen the actual book, but it still sounds 
like 'fair use' to me. Nothing in SteveV's book is taken 
from JKR or her books, it is compiled ABOUT her books and
again, I think that qualifies as fair use.

I'm too far on the outside to see all the intricate details,
so I have to rely on the judge to analyse the information
fairly and to rule fairly on the matter.

Notice in one of the interviews SteveV said he had previously
said he hadn't published because he felt the might be a 
copyright conflict. However, his publisher assured him there
was not, and that this type of reference work was allowed.
SteveV had it written into their book writing contract that
the publishing company assumed all financial and legal 
responsibility for copyright conflicts. So, I think SteveV
is personally protected. It's just a question of whether his
publishing company has enough money to fight the case to a
victory.

In my mind, it is not a question of who is right, it is a 
question of who is going to run out of money first, and I
don't think Warner or JKR are going to run out of money
anytime soon. 

Still, once again, I say that I have very conflicting
emotions around this. On one hand, I don't want to go against
JKR, but on the other hand, sight unseen, I do think SteveV
is working from a very real and very valid legal position.

Regardless of outcome, I think however the judge rules will
be fair and reasonable.

Steve/bboyminn