Episode #76: Harry Potter Goes To Court
This week, we take a break from the Patterns in Potter series to disucss the court case currently underway in New York between J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. on one side, and RDR Books and Steve Vander Ark on the other. There’s been excellent coverage of the trial (and interesting comments) over on the WSJ Law Blog, make sure to check that out.
In the mean time, if you have a thought or opinion about the case, leave a comment or a message and we’ll play it our next podcast. We look forward to hearing from you. You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.
No news this week, other than, you know, that court thingee. We will continue the Patterns in Potter series next week, beginning Book 5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.
Tags: copyright, fair use, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, jkr, lawyers, rdr, rdr books, Steve Vander Ark, sva
April 16th, 2008 at 8:13 am
I actually very much appreciate the unbiased objected reporting from the two of you. I have not followed the court case at all except what I have heard on the radio. What I have heard left me with exactly the same questions. Greg was right on the mark with what he said. I mean everything he said I agreed with and shared the same opinions in all cases. This could be perhaps the most tragic occurance of the whole lame scenario between the parties involved. ( Agreeing with Greg). Seriously though I am thankful of both your efforts and work to put out such a show and keep the current stuff posted. I had no idea there was such a hierachy in the fandom. Very bizarre and interesting. Somewhat of a mini-model of human nature with both it’s lighter and darker sides. I do hope they can take the judge’s advice and not succume to the dark side. May the force be with you Greg and Penny.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Thanks for your kind words Aaron and yes, the world must be coming to an end if you are agreeing with Greg. May the force be with you as well:)
April 16th, 2008 at 10:20 am
“like the guy who runs the boards….or the guy who tapes the show”
ummm….what about the lights guy??
so, does this confirm your status as a recovering hippie penny?? haha, as one myself, I have MUCH LOVE for the tapers. i’ve been enjoying the Patterns in Potter shows, great work…i can honestly attribute a large chunk of my continued current interest in this series to the work you guys do. i’m interested to hear your thoughts on book 5, as I only read 5-7, i have some points i’m hoping you make
April 16th, 2008 at 11:30 am
You found me out. I *am* a recovering hippie. Not. Just know about the music business a *bit* too much.
Well, Peter- if we don’t make the points that you hope we make, make sure to send them in via voicemail!!
April 16th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Penny & Greg!
Thank you so much for doing a podcast focused on the trial. You brought alot of explanation to the main focus of the copy right issues. For some reason I am very interested in this case and its outcome, though my Harry Potter fan involvement basically stops at listening to a few podcasts. That aside I must say that I am 100% for JKR. I do think that the corporations and lawyers are a big part of this trial, but I also believe this is a very personal issue for JKR, and because of that, it has developed into a very personal issue for SVA ( since he must feel personally attacked at this point). I cannot imagine a settlement coming out of this situation, especially seeing the adolescent manor in which RDR books has behaved ( completely my opinion); overall, I cannot wait to see how this develops. Once again, that you very much for this special podcast! Keep up the good work!
April 16th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
and to be clear, “recovering” in the sense that I have now found much better music to spend my time with, not in the obvious sense that you could associate that word with that music scene. i thought the taper comment sealed it though, as lots of those bands encourage fans to tape and circulate shows….anyway, i digress. cheers!
April 16th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
[...] « Episode #76: Harry Potter Goes To Court [...]
April 16th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Thanks for the podcast. I’ve been following the SVA vs JKR case with fascination - not that I understand any of the legal arguments, or care really. It’s the human tragedy that has me feeling sick. Poor SVA is like a car stuck on a railway crossing, and the train is bearing down on him. It’s horrible. It doesn’t matter how the case ends up - SVA has already lost everything he cared about. The comments from the fan community have been harsh and unforgiving. I feel sorry for the poor guy.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Ack! Train crossing incidents!
April 16th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
[...] Anthony Falzone, one of the attorneys for the defense, used basically the same argument we did in yesterday’s podcast discussing the trial? He must be a listener (we’ll send you a [...]
April 17th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
[...] HP Progs take a break from their Patterns in Potter to discuss the trial [...]
April 18th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Hey. I just got through with listening to Episode #76. When you mentioned that around 90% of the lexicon book was just information taken from the actual Harry Potter book, it made me think of my college classes (which Greg did later mention, but I just wanted to elaborate).
In many of my classes that you have to write papers in, we spend time going over how to properly write a paper without plagiarizing. According to my Current Issues in Literacy teacher (I’m an education major), if we write a paper and use information, such as quotes or statistics in our paper, that part that was take can only be at the very most 20% of the paper, and we must give credit to the person who wrote it and where we got the information. The rest of the information has to be things we draw from the information, and our thoughts, or our feelings. 90% is a large amount of information to just take to use, even if it is cited properly. I would be kicked out of school if I wrote a paper in which I took 90% of the information and just reworded it. I think J.K. Rowling is completely justified to go to court over this. I understand that she has somewhat endorsed the site, but I think he has pushed her to her limit. It is like he is trying to kidnap her child…..I mean she even calls book 6 her daughter’s “Ink and paper twin”.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
and along with the whole “Harry Potter is J.K.’s baby” thing- most people don’t mind someone playing with there baby, but they don’t want them to actually take their baby…..
April 29th, 2008 at 3:14 am