Hey everyone! Welcome back for episode 101. Steve Vander Ark joined us this week to talk about his book, The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction and Related Materials. We enjoyed discussing the book and the process behind publishing it as well as some of the many different entries and ideas in the book. Steve even graced us with a reading of two of his favorite entries. You will enjoy hearing Steve talk about Harry Potter in general as well in this episode.

We look forward to hearing your comments and thoughts. Enjoy!

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If you’re a fan of the Harry Potter books and J.K. Rowling, and were alive during the month of April of 2008, you probably heard about a little law suit over a book called “The Harry Potter Lexicon.”  The author of that book, Steve Vander Ark, is also the creator and editor of the Harry Potter Lexicon website.  We got a chance to talk with Steve about the lawsuit, the fan reactions, his new book and, of course, we talked a bit about Harry Potter (you know, the books about this boy wizard…oh never mind).  It’s a fascinating interview, hope you enjoy it.  We here at HPProgs believe in hearing all points of view, and hope that you will feel free to voice your opinions in the comments, while remaining respectful and rational in the process.

A big thanks to Steve for taking the time to talk with us.

Check out Steve’s new book entitled In Search of Harry Potter.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

Don’t forget to get your entries in for the Harry Potter/Beedle the Bard/YouTube Contest!  You can win a free copy of the Deluxe edition of the new Beedle the Bard book (that’s the $100 fancy version).

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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:)

It has been almost 6 months coming, but Judge Robert Patterson finally handed down the verdict in the JK Rowling/WB vs. Steve Vander Ark/RDR lawsuit. And the winner is…..JK Rowling. In this week’s episode, we discussed the decision, the reactions of both sides, what this means for the Harry Potter fandom as well as the future of copyright law.

We also officially announced the rules for our Beedle the Bard YouTube Contest. Please make sure to enter, we want to be able to give out the books to some worthy winners!

Finally, take a look at the Wall Street Journal Article (page 1, baby!) that mentions our Hitler Half Blood Prince Delay video. The article only portrays us as only *slightly* crazy…:)

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

As always, we look forward to hearing your comments, thoughts, and suggestions!!

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Both JK Rowling and RDR Books have issued statements following the verdict that sided with JK Rowling in the copyright suit against RDR Books and author, Steve Vander Ark.

Rowling said the following of the verdict:

“I took no pleasure at all in bringing legal action and am delighted that this issue has been resolved favourably,” said J.K. Rowling. “I went to court to uphold the right of authors everywhere to protect their own original work. The court has upheld that right.”

“The proposed book took an enormous amount of my work and added virtually no original commentary of its own. Now the court has ordered that it must not be published.”

“Many books have been published which offer original insights into the world of Harry Potter. The Lexicon just is not one of them.”

Warner Brothers issued the following statement:

“We are obviously pleased with today’s ruling by Judge Patterson supporting the position that the proposed lexicon book infringes on Ms. Rowling’s rights. As a content company, it is imperative that we work vigorously on all fronts to protect the intellectual property rights of those who create the stories and characters, words, pictures and music that entertain and benefit the worldwide audience.”

And RDR’s official statement is as follows:

“We are encouraged by the fact the Court recognized that as a general matter authors do not have the right to stop the publication of reference guides and companion books about literary works. As for the Lexicon, we are obviously disappointed with the result, and RDR is considering all of its options.”

The full opinion can be found in PDF form here.

After almost six months of deliberation, the verdict is finally in.

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge ruled Monday in favor of “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling in her copyright infringement lawsuit against a fan and Web site operator who was set to publish a Potter encyclopedia.

U.S. District Judge Robert P. Patterson said Rowling had proven that Steven Vander Ark’s “Harry Potter Lexicon” would cause her irreparable harm as a writer. He permanently blocked publication of the reference guide and awarded Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. $6,750 in statutory damages.

There is not a lot of information about the verdict yet, but we will keep you posted as it comes in.

Now that we have the verdict and it has come back in Jo’s favor, this beckons us to ask- will Jo now have the heart to finish writing her Encyclopedia? Do the Potter fans now have a new book to look forward to?

UPDATE: while reading the opinion, I came across this tidbit:

To date, Warner Bros. has release five Harry Potter films, with the sixth scheduled for a worldwide release in November 2008.

I don’t know about you; I consider this to be a court order that Movie 6 must come out in November! Either that, or this was written a while ago.

We always get comments about how when they listen to our podcast, people feel like they’re getting a glimpse into our lives. They usually follow up with a statement about how they love the rapport the two of us have. Well, for those of you who like HPProgs for the intimate way we welcome you into our lives then this is the episode for you. After we discussed the new Twilight Book, “Breaking Dawn,” Greg and I proceeded to have a general potpourri episode with some content and a lot of personality (pseudonym for annoyance at each other). We also discussed an exciting new contest that is in the works!

NOTE: There are “Breaking Dawn” Spoilers on this episode so if you haven’t finished the book yet, you might want to listen to the first few minutes and then skip to minute 20 or so not to hear them.

As always we can’t wait to hear your thoughts: on the Breaking Dawn review, the Beedle the Bard News and contest, our short fandom discussion and everything else we talked about. You can leave comments here on the blog or call our voicemail at 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.

Make sure to check out our channel on the new Odeo. Subscribe, rate, review, it’s all good, check it out.

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In what will go down in history as being HPProgs’ finest hour *or* our worst episode yet, we bring to you Episode #77. We decided to go a slightly different route for part of this episode and after our very short news discussion we re-enacted part of the J.K. Rowling vs. Steve Vander Ark/RDR Books trial. All we can say is that those of you who called Greg’s accent rubbish are going to wish you had saved your insults. On a side note, when I was editing the episode I realized that we botched the name of SVA’s lawyer. It is David Hammer, not Barry. Apologies to Mr. Hammer.

Speaking of accents, we played a voicemail from Potter’s Number One Fan in which he picked up Greg’s gauntlet and gave us a multi-character Harry Potter narration. Excellent job, in my opinion.

We finished off the episode with the introduction to Patterns In Potter for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”. You’ll have to trust that we are telling the truth when we say that Book 5 has a good theme.

As promised the links to the court transcripts are here. Thanks to Cris for the tip:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
  

It is a new month so please vote for us on Podcast Alley and as always rate and review us on iTunes and Odeo.

Finally, HPProgs has a Twitter account so please join in the fun and start following us so you can get all of our updates!

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.

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Ginny, have you seen my Firebolt?

The trial over Steve Vander Ark and his Harry Potter Lexicon continued today in New York, in what appears to be the final day of testimony. According to the WSJ Law Blog (which may be suing HPProgs for copyright, as we’ve been linking to and excerpting from the quite liberally), the defense (i.e. SVA and RDR) seemed to have the upper hand coming out of today’s session. HPProgs legal analysts (read: hacks) think this might indicate that the judge really favors Rowling, but was testing their side more rigourously to see how they stood up to scrutiny. More likely, though, he’s leaning towards RDR/SVA.

The WSJ also posted an interview with an IP lawyer who gave his opinion on the case (long story short: too close to call). Did we mention that 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 bill).

In the meantime, more information has come to light. Commentor Bill posted a link to a site that contains most of the information that has been submitted for the case (I think lawyers call these things affidavits). Included in Bill’s comment was an excerpt of an email exchange between SVA and JKR’s representatives; what emerges is a very disturbing picture of a case of an obsessed fan taking things too far. This, of course, has no bearing on the legality of the Lexicon as a published work, but certainly adds a nice amount of drama and context to the entire affair.

Check back tomorrow for more updates on the trial. We here at HPProgs are hoping for a settlement; short of that, we’ve got two galleons on RDR/SVA.

Well the hopes of a full settlement were apparently too much to ask for. Darn. The WSJ law blog tells us that when the courts reconvened today, the attorneys informed Judge Patterson that they had reached a settlement only on the false advertising and deceptive trade practices claims. This means only that neither J.K Rowling’s name nor her quote endorsing the online version of the Harry Potter Lexicon will appear on the cover of the book version of the Lexicon….if it is published. Also, Anthony Falzone, who’s representing RDR in the case, told the court that both parties hope to “paper a settlement” on the trademark infringement and unfair competition claims.

The crux of the courtcase; which is Copyright Infringement is still unfortunately on the table and has not been settled on.

So the case moved on…

David Hammer, the lead attorney for RDR, seemed to be most interested in establishing the point that the more creative a work is — a “fantasy” being perhaps the most creative genre of the novel — the more there’s a need for a reference guide to illuminate, for the reader, the unique (and non-existent) world the author has created. Sorensen testified that, historically, lexicons and reference works similar to Vander Ark’s have been helpful for readers seeking to gain a better understanding of such works as J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” and C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Lexicons like Vander Ark’s, testified Sorensen, can educate a reader on etymologies, mythical references, geography (real and imagined) and the vernacular and slang used by the author. She also said that reference guides written by the authors themselves aren’t necessarily the final word on their own texts, since authors can assume too much knowledge on the part of the reader.

In her cross, Cendali returned to the plaintiffs’ legal motif in the case: The H.P. Lexicon takes too much, and does too little. Cendali pressed Sorensen on the point that the Lexicon contains little interpretive analysis. Sorensen conceded as much, but said that analysis isn’t the only value a reference guide like Vander Ark’s can provide a reader.

It should also be noted that JK Rowling and Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. put out an official statement regarding the case:

“A fan’s affectionate enthusiasm should not obscure acts of plagiarism. The publishers knew what they were doing. The problem remains that the Lexicon takes an enormous amount of Ms. Rowling’s work and adds virtually no original commentary of its own. As we’ve said in court, it takes too much and adds too little. Authors have a duty to prevent the exploitation of their works by people who contribute nothing original, creative or interpretive.”

If you are starting to feel lost in all of this legal jargon and want the laymen’s/Harry Potter fan’s version of the events, feel free to listen to our latest podcast episode, “Harry Potter Goes to Court.” We discussed the case so far, as well as the impact that it has had on the Harry Potter Fandom.

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.

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Apparently, Judge Robert Patterson feels similarly to many Potter fans. Towards the end of today, he asked both parties involved if they could reach a settlement, stating that he feels that the case between JK Rowling and Steve Vander Ark/RDR Publishers has become more lawyer-driven than client-driven.

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports the events of today as follows:

Judge Patterson removed his glasses and addressed the court. “I’m concerned that this case is more lawyer-driven than it is client-driven,” he lamented. “The fair use people are on one side, and a large company is on the other side. . . . The parties ought to see if there’s not a way to work this out, because there are strong issues in this case and it could come out one way or the other. The fair use doctrine is not clear.”

“I’m bringing it up now so you can think about it before you get into the rest of the case,” Judge Patterson added. “Maybe it’s too late; maybe we’ve gone too far down the road. But a settlement is better than a lawsuit.”

The plea came as plaintiffs counsel Marvin Putnam of O’Melveny was cross examining a witness, an exchange that seemed to leave the lawyer frustrated and losing patience. The Judge broke in to point out that it was four o’clock, and asked Putnam how much longer he needed. Putnam apologized, and said he’d need quite a bit longer.

I don’t know about you but I am hoping that this will be as painless as possible and that the folks on both sides will strongly consider settling the case. From a purely selfish perspective, I hope that this can be resolved painlessly. I hate seeing what it is doing to the Potter author/fan/fandom relationship, which used to be looked at as a model to be emulated. Now it is starting to feel like a dysfunctional family.

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog has posted another great entry about the JKR/RDR/SVA court case. SVA testified today.

What’s More Important to the Parties? Money or Passion? Yesterday, Rowling said the case isn’t about money, but about principle. One of RDR’s lawyers, Anthony Falzone, in his opening remarks said that for Vander Ark it was never about money, but rather passion. Today we got a sense of where thing stand on both fronts. According to Vander Ark, he’s made about $6,500 off his Web site — all through advertising — between 2000 and 2008.

But the most telling part of Vander Ark’s testimony came at the end of Hammer’s direct examination. Asked whether he still considered himself a part of the Harry Potter fan community — those that, in Vander Ark’s words, devote most of their free time to all things Potter, he choked up, and said, “I did.” But then, when pressed on it, he changed his answer. “I do,” he said, breaking up.

Hammer then asked him why the question was so “emotionally-charged.” Regaining his composure, and trying hard to look past J.K. Rowling, whom the plaintiffs counsel positioned directly in front of the witness stand, Vander Ark said, “It’s been difficult because there’s been a lot of criticism and that was never the intention. I understand where that comes from, but it’s difficult. The lexicon has been an important part of my life for the last 8 or 9 years of my life, and now, to have it turn into this . . . .”

This seems to be turning into an emotional roller coaster for all of the parties involved.  I wish JKR and SVA could just kiss and make up.  In a completely selfless gesture, I am offering both sides the opportunity to talk 1 to 1 without the courts getting in the ways.  Feel free to come on our podcast.  We’d be happy to have you.  In related news, yes I am delusional.

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog has given a report on some of today’s court proceedings.

According to the Law Blog, the heart of this case is the  fair-use doctrine which according to the US Copyright Act is explained as follows:

One of the rights accorded to the owner of copyright is the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords. This right is subject to certain limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the Copyright Act (title 17, U. S. Code). One of the more important limitations is the doctrine of “fair use.” Although fair use was not mentioned in the previous copyright law, the doctrine has developed through a substantial number of court decisions over the years. This doctrine has been codified in section 107 of the copyright law.

Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered “fair,” such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:

the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

the nature of the copyrighted work;

amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

This was discussed in detail today by JKR’s attorney:

After going through the list of correspondence that Cendali argued showed bad faith copying on Vander Ark’s part, she painstakingly detailed the four factors of fair use — the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount of the work copied, the purpose and character of the use, and the effect on the market — arguing that they don’t apply to the Harry Potter Lexicon.

Mostly, Cendali focused on the third factor, belaboring the same phrase over and over again, arguing that the Lexicon “takes too much and does too little.” In other words, she argued, unlike other Harry Potter companion books, which add commentary, analysis and research to Rowling’s work, the Harry Potter Lexicon adds nothing new or original, but merely “rearranges the furniture of Rowling’s novels.” In characterizing the Lexicon as a “reference guide,” Cendali, in her own bit of literary pilferage, concluded that RDR is attempting “to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear.”

When Stanford University’s Anthony Falzone, the inheritor of professor Larry Lessig’s Fair Use Project, took the podium, he gave comparatively short remarks, saying simply that the public will lose out if publication of the Harry Potter Lexicon is enjoined, and arguing that the power Rowling asserts over her fictional world does not translate into power she can assert over companion guides wirtten by others. “Profit was nover the point,” concluded Falzone, Vander Ark wrote the Lexicon out of passion.

As we mentioned previously, Jo took the stand today and spoke quite emotionally and passionately about her feelings on this issue.   One interesting tidbit the Wall Stree Journal offered was the following:

“Should my fans be flooded with a surfeit of substandard books — so called lexicons — I’m not sure I’d have the will or heart to continue,” said Rowling, who went on to characterize the H.P. Lexicon as “sloppy,” “lazy,” and “incorrect.”

Personally I don’t know that I would classify the HPL as sloppy, lazy, or incorrect.  I think it is a very excellent compendium  of the Harry Potter world that I have taken advantage of (and according to many previous reports, so has JKR) quite often.  Once again, I don’t know the ins and outs of copyright law and I don’t know who is in the right OR wrong here but to see the badmouthing and deterioration of fan and author relations saddens me the most.

NEW YORK – J.K. Rowling said Monday that her efforts to halt a publisher’s “Harry Potter” lexicon have been crushing her creativity.

Rowling said she has stopped work on a new novel because the lawsuit in federal court has “decimated my creative work over the last month.”

Rowling is suing RDR Books to stop publication of Steven Vander Ark’s “Harry Potter Lexicon.” She says her copyrights are being violated.

“This book constitutes wholesale theft of 17 years of my hard work,” she testified Monday.

Full article from the Associated Press

To me the biggest revelation in this story is that Steve Vander Ark is 50.  Did not realize THAT.