That case and that book

[Carol]

This post is a continuation of my response to Alla's request, below:

Alla:
<snip>
> 
> I recommend comparing entries in the BOOK version which I linked to
in the beginning of this thread and Nora linked again few posts upthread.

I already compared the online Lexicon's version of the Basilisk entry
to FB's (see upthread). This post gives the printed version, with
bracketed comments indicating the differences between it and the
online version:

Here is the Print Lexicon version, with the differences from the
online version noted:

"Basilisk ["King of Serpents" and MOM classification omitted]

"A wizard-bred Dark creature of enormous power, this extremely
poisonous giant serpent (up to fifty feet in length) is brilliant
green in color with long thin saber-like fangs and bulbous yellow eyes
[cross reference omitted and "fifty" spelled out]. A Basilisk can live
for at least 900 years given an adequate food supply, and as it can
eat most vertebrates (including humans), this is not difficult to
achieve. The male can be distinguished from the female by the scarlet
plume on its head, but basilisks are usually magically rather than
normally bred. [New sentence here:] A Basilisk is created by hatching
a chicken egg under a toad. [Old material resumes;] Basilisk-breeding
has been outlawed since medieval times and in the present day falls
under the Ban on Experimental Breeding, but this law has rarely been
broken even by Dark wizards, since only a Parselmouth can control a
Basilisk (FB). [The source for the entire paragraph has been added,
with the Ban on Experimental Breeding error mentioned in my earlier
post retained. No plagiarism or copyright violations here. The
capitalization of "Basilisk" is an editorial change presumably based
on the publisher's stylistic preferences.]

[Quotation from imaginary library book omitted, as is the inference
about the Phoenix seeming to be immune from the Basilisk's "deadly gaze."]

[New material here] "The Basilisk has extremely poisonous fangs. The
only antidote for the poison is phoenix tears (DH6). Its stare can
kill. Spiders flee from the basilisk, but the great serpent fears the
crowing of a rooster (CS16). [The first and third sentences are
"common knowledge" and require no citation. The source is cited for
the second and fourth sentences. Most of the paraphrasing is fine; the
one exception is "Spiders flee from the Basilisk," which is too close
to the original, "Spiders flee before the Basilisk," taken from the
imaginary library book in CoS.]

[New sentence] Salazar Slytherin placed a Basilisk in the Chamber of
Secrets under Hogwarts castle [no citation needed for this purely
informative sentence, which does not duplicate JKR's words in CoS;
Salazar's Basilisk isn't mentioned in FB]. When unleashed by the Heir
of Slytherin using Parseltongue in 1992 [date is a new addition], the
basilisk searched the castle for its prey ["that lived in the Chamber
of Secrets" has been cut], Muggle-born students, which it apparently
could identify by smelling their blood ("I smell blood..." the
creature cried as it wandered the pipes) [page reference is still
missing]. When its eyes were pecked out by Fawkes, it attacked Harry
using its keen sense of smell. Harry killed the basilisk by thrusting
a sword through the roof of its mouth. Harry's arm was pierced by one
of the basilisk's fangs, the poison of which nearly killed him (esp.
CS 17). [Source added; with the exception of the small cut and the
cited source, this paragraph from "When unleashed" forward is
identical to the online version. the citation for "I smell blood" is
still missing, and Steve has forgotten to capitalize "basilisk," but
these small matters can be caught and corrected or queried by a
copyeditor. I know because that's what I do for a living!]"

The following paragraph from the original online entry has been cut
entirely:

"Apart from its specific magical powers and long lifespan, many of the
characteristics of the basilisk follow naturally from its being a
serpent (see). Like more mundane serpents, the basilisk sheds its skin
at intervals, and its varied diet is typical of the larger snakes,
which tend to pursue larger and larger prey according to their own
size and capabilities. It's quite possible that had Harry both
retained his wand and been more experienced in Defence Against the
Dark Arts, he might have lost his battle against the basilisk in
attempting to use Stunning Spells; although not explicitly stated, the
basilisk's skin probably has the same armor characteristics as dragon
skin, leaving its eyes and the inside of its mouth as its only
vulnerable points."

As you can see, the print version is a condensed version of the online
version, which eliminates one long quotation, substituting summary and
paraphrase, but also eliminates the online version's commentary
comparing Basilisks to ordinary serpents (probably a mistake since
that paragraph could conceivably be called "transformative." The MoM 
classification is also omitted.

Some of the differences between the two entries are small matters of
editorial style, not consistently carried through, such as the
capitalization of "Basilisk" and the spelling out of numbers under one
hundred. More important, Steve has cited the sources of his material.
Granted, the "I smell blood" quotation is still uncited, and "Spiders
flee from it" is too close to the original wording to be an acceptable
paraphrase, but otherwise, this entry does not "copy and paste" JKR's
wording any more than the original does. The elimination of the long
quotation, now incorporated into the entry using legitimate paraphrase
and summary, makes it less, not more, reliant on her wording.

For comparison, here again is the FB entry on Basilisks:

"BASILISK (also known as the King of Serpents) [info eliminated from
print version]

"M.O.M. Classification XXXXX [eliminated from print version]

"The first recorded basilisk was bred by Herpo the Foul, a Greek Dark
wizard and Parselmouth, who discovered after much experimentation that
a chicken egg hatched beneath a toad would produce a gigantic serpent
possessed of extraordinarily dangerous powers. [Herpo the Foul is not
mentioned in either Lexicon entry; the chicken egg hatched by a toad
is "common knowledge" and does not require a citation.]

"The Basilisk is a brilliant green serpent that may reach up to twenty
feet in length. The male has a scarlet plume upon its head. It has
exceptionally venomous fangs but its most dangerous means of attack is
the gaze of its large yellow eyes. Anyone looking directly into these
will suffer instant death. [This information is used but adequately
paraphrased and cited, if the end-of-paragraph citation applies to the
entire paragraph.]

"If the food source is sufficient (the Basilisk will eat all mammals
and birds and most reptiles). The serpent may attain a very great age.
Herpo the Foul's Basilisk is believed to have lived for close on nine
hundred years. [This information is summarized and the source cited in
the end-of-paragraph citation; again, Herpo the Foul is not mentioned.]

"The creation of Basilisks has been illegal since medieval times,
although the practice is easily concealed by simply removing the
chicken egg from beneath the toad when the Department for the
Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures comes to call. However,
since Basilisks are uncontrollable except by Parselmouths, they are as
dangerous to most Dark wizards as to anybody else, and there have been
no recorded sightings of Basilisks for at least four hundred years."
[Obviously, the "no recorded sightings" line is not used. The rest is
acceptably paraphrased (except for the Ban on Experimental Breeding
error, which does not violate copyright law) and adequately cited.

Conclusion: It would be advisable to use the phrase "According to
Fantastic Beasts" to introduce some of the material, and Steve needs a
good copyeditor, but this entry is assuredly *not* copied and pasted
from either FB or CoS. Efforts have been made to cite his sources and
to eliminate objectionable material, such as the long quotation from
the imaginary library book. Steve may be trying *too* hard by cutting
the paragraph of material at the end of the original entry.

But 91 percent JKR's material? "Codswallop!" as Hagrid would say.

Carol, concluding that Steve V. is acting in good faith here but that
he has been badly advised regarding the reorganization of the book and
possibly with regard to the cuts in the entries

P.S. This is my last attempt to make comparative entries because it's
extremely time-consuming, but I hope that other posters will compare
them for themselves.