Have We Lost the Harry Potter Lexicon Forever?
The Harry Potter Lexicon appears to have been taken down. Over the past few weeks when one visited the site, there was a 443 error. However; today, when I tried to access the page I was taken to a Go Daddy website with the message “This website is parked for free courtesy of GoDaddy.com”. So what does this mean? Time and time again, when we discussed the JKR/SVA trial, Greg expressed his confusion about why the website’s copyright status wasn’t called into question. Is it possible that part of the recent trial verdict required the site to be removed? Or perhaps, the amount of traffic the site was receiving was simply too much for the bandwidth SVA had planned for his site (note: I know NOTHING about bandwidth or anything like that now so stop laughing and I’ll just shut up now)? Interestingly enough, when checking out the ownership of the site, we found out that Melissa Anelli owns the domain. Take from that what you will.
In any event, the Harry Potter Lexicon has disapparated from the internet and I’m sad. If it truly is gone, not only does it nullify years and years of hard work on Steve Vander Ark’s part (not to mention his staff and contributors); but the resource that *was* the HP Lexicon is no longer available to the HP fans. As someone who has analyzed these books and has held hours and hours of discussion related to Harry Potter (89 of those recorded for all of you to hear 
) I have used the Lexicon as a resource countless times.
It does seem that Steve is moving on though. Well sort of. He isn’t leaving the Harry Potter world but he is focusing on different ventures.
The Grand Rapids Press reports the following:
“I’ve always been a fan of Harry Potter and of Rowling and my hope all along was that we’d find an amicable way to settle this,” Vander Ark said from England this on Tuesday morning. “I’m disappointed, but this is the way it went and I don’t hold any ill will at all.
“It was a question of law over a difference of opinion and, in a way, I’m glad that it’s finally over.”
While the dispute simmered in court for nearly a year, Vander Ark has been focusing on publishing a different Potter-themed book.
This one, a travel memoir, has Vander Ark visiting sites referenced in the series, exploring and taking pictures of them. The 256-page book is set for release in October through Methuen Publishing, Vander Ark said.
“(The) book evokes the myths and magic of Harry Potter,” according to a release on the Methuen Web site. “It will be enjoyed by all fans of the boy wizard and will prove a useful guide for those bent on making discoveries of their own.”
Having heard Steve lecture on this topic, I don’t doubt that this will be a fantastic and entertaining book and I wish him the best of luck.
UPDATE: Steve read my note on facebook and here is what he wrote: “It’s not down. We’re in the process of transferring the domain and so that URL offline for a short time, but the site up as usual at www.hp-lexicon.info.”
PHEW:)
Tags: Harry Potter Lexicon, Harry Potter Lexicon Taken Down, Steve Vander Ark
September 11th, 2008 at 8:20 am
I was able to access the Lexicon this morning. About 4:30 or so Mountain time. I had to do it through the wikipedia link to the Lexicon, though. Otherwise, if I just typed the Lexicon into a search engine & went to the page that said HPLexicon, I got that GoDaddy message.
Just tried again & I got through by clicking on the link in the wikipedia article.
We’ll just have to wait & see what happens with the Lexicon. I don’t think the fact that Melissa Anelli owns the domain name means anything. I think there was an arrangement when Leaky & the Lexicon parted ways that Leaky would still own the name but the Lexicon would pay the hosting costs.
I was thinking along the same lines as Greg, too. That if the Lexicon in print infringes on Jo’s copyright, then the Lexicon online does exactly the same thing. It’s still not right to take someone else’s work, even if you don’t make any money off of it. I couldn’t print up copies of Jo’s work & give them out for free. That would still be copyright infringement.
So, if Jo & WB objected only to the Lexicon being printed & making money, they’re being disingenuous. If SVA was stealing Jo’s work & she was so upset about it, then she should’ve stopped the online Lexicon. She & WB shouldn’t really be allowed to have it both ways. That is to say, they shouldn’t get to decide what’s infringement & what isn’t, the law should. And the law, as I understand it, says you can’t take other people’s work even if you don’t make any money off of it.
Maybe you guys do need to get a copyright lawyer on the show or someone conversant with emerging media.
September 11th, 2008 at 8:26 am
http://www.hp-lexicon.info/index-2.html
I don’t see any problem with Jo making a distinction between a book and an online database. Theoretically if she owns all the rights she could be able to grant limited permission of use.
September 11th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I also had another thought as I listened to your show yesterday. You mentioned having t-shirts available at the Wizard Rock Fest. What’s the legal status of that? I remember that WB made Mugglenet & Leaky stop selling t-shirts & other stuff with their show names on it.
Not that I want to get you in trouble. But hopefully nobody from the WB legal department listens to your podcast.
September 11th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Theoretically she should be able to grant limited permission or any sort of permission she wants. And she either did that with the online Lexicon or she didn’t exercise her rights in a timely manner & thus lost them in regard to the online Lexicon.
But if, as she seems to have maintained, that this wasn’t about the money but about the theft of her work, then she should be just as upset about the free online Lexicon as she is about the print one. Plus, SVA was making money off her work through the online site. Sure, not a lot. But still making money off of a supposed theft of her work.
Now, if I sold a bootlegged copy of a HP book for a minuscule amount or even if I lost money selling bootlegged copies of Jo’s work, she should still be as upset about that as if I was making millions off of her work without her permission.
September 11th, 2008 at 8:44 am
RevGeorge- in reference to the t-shirts, they aren’t lifting anything specific from HP (i.e. the Always Silver Doe t-shirts)
September 11th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Thanks for the update, Penny! That’s good news.
September 11th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Rowling has made it clear that she has no problem with the website.
She actually has no problem with a book either, providing it falls within fair use. Whether the Lexicon book was within those guidelines or not was what the trial was about, and the judge made it clear that while most of the book was fine, there were some problem areas in the manuscript that was submitted to the court.
This was actually a simple question of law which needed clarification because it was undefined up to this point. Now that there is a more clear legal standard, we can all move forward with our fan activities knowing better where we stand.
Steve
September 11th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Thanks for the clarification, Steve.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Here’s a different URL that works:
http://www.hplex.org/
Linda