The Trial -- My Prediction: JKR wins/loses

[Steve]

---  Lee Kaiwen <leekaiwen at ...> wrote:
>
> ... I'm going to toss out my predictions:
> 
> 1. The judge will rule against RDR/SVA.
> 2. There will be no appeal.
> 3. The only party who will NOT be happy with the decision will
> be JKR/WB.
> 
> If one thing is apparent from the transcripts and court 
> documents, it's that the plaintiffs have spent an inordinate 
> amount of time trying to prove that the lexicon is little more
> than a cut-n-paste hack of JKR's works. As evidence they have 
> offered example entries such as the Sorting Hat and Acromantula.
> It would ... would constitute plagiarism and, in all likelihood, 
> copyright infringement.
> 

bboyminn:

RATS! I had a nice long post written and was ready to [SEND]
when suddenly my browser closed and I lost it all. Well, I'll
try my best to duplicate what I intended to say, and we'll see
if I can actually get it posted this time.

As many who have been following the discussion know, I am
somewhat sympathetic to SteveV, but at the same time I think
he did screw up and I also think he realizes that. But put
yourself in his position. He is an **unemployed** librarian
who is a would-be writer. Along comes a publisher that 
absolutely assures him the Lexicon falls within fair use. How
could he not be tempted by that? 

Some have suggested that he should have consulted a independent
lawyer before signing the contract, but perhaps you missed the
UNEMPLOYED part. It is easy to say consult a lawyer but how
many of us have that kind of money laying around? Plus, it would
seem the publisher's lawyers, who are after all lawyers, were
reassuring him that it was OK. 

Unemployment frequently makes people make choices that they 
would never make if that had a comfortable cash flow of money. 
It doesn't excuse the choice he made, but it certainly does
go toward explaining it.

Next, the Acromantula entry is very short. In the context of
the story and the series, there are only just so many reasonable
ways you can re-arrange the words to describe an Acromantula.
Go to the Acromantula reference and try to re-write it. Sure
you can re-arrange the words into something less logical, but
again, that is about the best anyone can do.

As to the Sorting Hat entry, it starts out in SteveV's own
words in a free-form description of the Sorting Hat and how
it fits into the story. So far, so good. It is only when he 
dates and quotes the full Sorting Hat songs that we have a 
problem. But in the context of a reference and research guide,
is it reasonable to quote those songs?

In response, I ask how many times have we discussed and even
quoted the Sorting Hat, and how handy would it have been to
have a single dated reference of those songs that we could
refer to? Now, I don't know if it fall within fair use, but
it is certainly valuable as a reference to the series.

As to your suggestion or prediction, I think that is a reasonable
resolution to this case. In a sense, if I understand your right,
the ruling would be that the Lexicon would not be fair use /in
its present form/. Meaning it could be re-written.

But I suspect Carol is right, if it is re-written, JKR/WB would
simply re-issue their challenge against the new form. In which
case it become not a matter of right or wrong, fair or unfair,
but a matter of who runs out of money first. Of course, it is
VERY unlikely that JKR/WB will ever run out of money. 

Also note that the lawsuit is NOT RDR/SVA vs JKR/WB, it is
RDR vs JKR/WB, again confirming to me that SteveV is just
being swept along in the tide. 

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/docs/jkrtrialday1.txt
2    ------------------------------x
        2
        3    WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT,
        3    INC. and J.K. ROWLING,
        4
        4                   Plaintiffs,
        5
        5               v.                           07 CV 9667 (RPP)
        6
        6    RDR BOOKS,
        7
        7                   Defendant.
        8
        8    ------------------------------x


I still say that SteveV realizes he made a mistake, and if he
could reverse it, he would. But everything is in the hands of
the publisher now. SteveV, I'm sure, even has to choose his
words wisely when he speaks in public. He can't openly oppose
or try to sabotage his own publisher unless he want to open
himself up to a lawsuit. A lawsuit he would have a very 
difficult time defending himself against when you consider
that he is /unemployed/. 

Lastly, while I have sympathy for SteveV and try my best to
keep an open objective mind, I see this as a matter of law,
not who I do or don't like. I trust the law to evaluate the
case and rule fairly, though I'm equally sure that any 
ruling will cause more pain that relief.

Again, I agree with Carol, I think an out of court settlement
is best for all involved, and is best from mending the
rift this has created in fandom.

I personally STILL like the idea that JKR buys the Web Lexicon,
and WB buys the printed book from the publisher for expenses
plus a small profit. That way, WB and JKR now have full 
complete legal control over all that information. Steve and
RDR walk away happier and wiser for the experience. That
also allows fandom to heal. Since the Lexicon would now be 
under JKR's control, they could re-establish contacts with
the Leaky Cauldron and the Floo Network.

Just a few thoughts.
Steve/bboyminn