In the news recently, JK Rowling is suing a fan for creating a lexicon of her work. I haven't really been following but just reading a couple of the news articles on it, overall, I think it's an extremely unpleasant business and that JKR seems to be rather petty. Perhaps my thinking's a bit simplistic, but the way I see it, fan works of her series are only going to be good publicity for her. Moreover, this guy, Steve Vander Ark, is creating a lexicon that is based on her series; it would be pointless to read his book if you haven't read the original series. It's not like he's writing a story based on characters from the HP universe, or a spoof of the HP universe (like the Barry Trotter series). Even Barry Trotter, I feel, only serves to increase awareness of JKR's own work.
She claims she's not doing it for money but to maintain control over her series. I do support the idea of intellectual property rights, but sometimes, this is taken too far. Michael Crichton wrote a very good piece on this issue:
There's hardly any original stuff in literature, seriously. How far back do you want to go to claim that something is yours? JKR herself stands on the shoulders of past literary giants and makes use of fantasy stereotypes such as witches and wizards on brooms, wands, cauldrons, latin spells... some were her own ideas, such as Quidditch, but a lot of her 'work', if you want to scrutinize it closely, would then bear a lot of similarity to past work. Oho! Orphan boy hero (Harry Potter), venerable mentor (Dumbledore)... I'm getting a sense of déjà vu here, and I've read a lot of fantasy stories... these are all well-known, sometimes well-loved, sometimes not so, fantasy clichés. Harry Potter was an orphan, suddenly 'discovered', has Strong Powers, and told, "You Have to Save Us All!" Wait! Or is that Luke Skywalker? The Rival (pronounced with a Japanese accent) is almost a fixture in shonen anime (Draco Malfoy). The traitor (Wormtail) reminds me of Judas from probably the oldest story of them all (the Bible). Shall we argue on those technicalities? I think JKR's genius lies in putting all that together, and throwing in a bit of her own ideas here and there, and not in creating an ENTIRELY novel universe. All right, quidditch belongs to JKR, and avada kevarda (but not hocus pocus), and house elves (but not elves, for that's Tolkein's). What next? Shall the names 'Harry' or 'Potter' be copyrighted too? Well, you can't help it if your surname's Potter but you shall be sued if you name your kids Harry!
Rather petty and stifling, isn't it?
And honestly? I've read books 1 to 3 of JKR's series and I liked her basic ideas and some of her characters. But I disliked her style of writing and the one-dimensionality of characters as the story progressed, so I stopped reading her work. But I continued to read fan fiction because I do like her basic premise, and I am utterly amazed at the standards of some fan stories, which are written for NO monetary profit, and it is through these fan works that I maintain an interest in JKR's series, even though I wouldn't read JKR's own work.
She claims she's not doing it for money but to maintain control over her series. I do support the idea of intellectual property rights, but sometimes, this is taken too far. Michael Crichton wrote a very good piece on this issue:
Elevated homocysteine is linked to B-12 deficiency, so doctors should test homocysteine levels to see whether the patient needs vitamins.ACTUALLY, I can't make that last statement. A corporation has patented that fact, and demands a royalty for its use. Anyone who makes the fact public and encourages doctors to test for the condition and treat it can be sued for royalty fees. Any doctor who reads a patient's test results and even thinks of vitamin deficiency infringes the patent. A federal circuit court held that mere thinking violates the patent.
--snip--
I wanted to end this essay by telling a story about how current rulings hurt us, but the patent for "ending an essay with an anecdote" is owned. So I thought to end with a quotation from a famous person, but that strategy is patented, too. I then decided to end abruptly, but "abrupt ending for dramatic effect" is also patented. Finally, I decided to pay the "end with summary" patent fee, since it was the least expensive.
There's hardly any original stuff in literature, seriously. How far back do you want to go to claim that something is yours? JKR herself stands on the shoulders of past literary giants and makes use of fantasy stereotypes such as witches and wizards on brooms, wands, cauldrons, latin spells... some were her own ideas, such as Quidditch, but a lot of her 'work', if you want to scrutinize it closely, would then bear a lot of similarity to past work. Oho! Orphan boy hero (Harry Potter), venerable mentor (Dumbledore)... I'm getting a sense of déjà vu here, and I've read a lot of fantasy stories... these are all well-known, sometimes well-loved, sometimes not so, fantasy clichés. Harry Potter was an orphan, suddenly 'discovered', has Strong Powers, and told, "You Have to Save Us All!" Wait! Or is that Luke Skywalker? The Rival (pronounced with a Japanese accent) is almost a fixture in shonen anime (Draco Malfoy). The traitor (Wormtail) reminds me of Judas from probably the oldest story of them all (the Bible). Shall we argue on those technicalities? I think JKR's genius lies in putting all that together, and throwing in a bit of her own ideas here and there, and not in creating an ENTIRELY novel universe. All right, quidditch belongs to JKR, and avada kevarda (but not hocus pocus), and house elves (but not elves, for that's Tolkein's). What next? Shall the names 'Harry' or 'Potter' be copyrighted too? Well, you can't help it if your surname's Potter but you shall be sued if you name your kids Harry!
Rather petty and stifling, isn't it?
And honestly? I've read books 1 to 3 of JKR's series and I liked her basic ideas and some of her characters. But I disliked her style of writing and the one-dimensionality of characters as the story progressed, so I stopped reading her work. But I continued to read fan fiction because I do like her basic premise, and I am utterly amazed at the standards of some fan stories, which are written for NO monetary profit, and it is through these fan works that I maintain an interest in JKR's series, even though I wouldn't read JKR's own work.
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