The Fair Use Doctrine

[sistermagpie]

 Carol responds:
> 
> Well, given the relative ability to pay for expert lawyers, it's not
> surprising that JKR's team is better prepared. 

Magpie:
Actually, what I heard was that RDR's lawyer was doing more poorly 
than he should be given his own resume. This was a lawyer's opinion--
obviously I can't really say for myself because I don't know about 
trials--but he was described as making some basic mistakes that were 
surprising. Like letting their own witnesses blame the defendent or 
putting unprepared people on the stand or asking too many questions 
to which he didn't know the answer.

Carol:
(He compared it
> to the long drawn-out lawsuits in Dickens's "Bleak House,") More 
power
> to the judge, and I hope they listen.
> 
> http://www.smh.com.au/news/books/rowling-makes-fiery-return-to-
stand/2008/04/17/1208025322650.html?page=2

Magpie:
It's possibly, too, that he's referring to the Stanford group who 
some feel have an agenda outside of what's best for RDR. But I think 
they should settle too. I've heard rumors there have been some 
attempts--but of course I don't know. 

Carol:
 
> Carol, who still thinks that JKR herself needs to be better informed
> and less emotional and that the lawyers should stop coaching her to
> play the victim

Magpie:
I don't think we really have any way of knowing how informed she is 
or not. (I would guess probably more than I am, but that's me!) I 
doubt my own ability to fully understand copyright law even when I 
listen to it explained to me. But yeah, I don't know why there's time 
spent on things that seem irrelevent like whether or not somebody 
would read the Lexicon for entertainment--however, that gave JKR 
another chance to assert herself as the author: "There are funny 
things on that site and I wrote them." Whether or not the Lexicon 
book is poorly done in her opinion isn't relevent either, or whether 
it's hard for her to write her novel or makes her not want to write 
her own encyclopedia. But her case doesn't seem ill-informed to me in 
general or frivolous. I think there's a grey area here rather than a 
lack of understanding on either side. The pie chart seems central to 
what they're trying to prove, whether it's slanted one way or the 
other. That's still the meat of what they're talking about. 

-m