Okay, so I'm trying to figure out why other companion books are fine with JKR and WB... Is it just that the Lexicon's book is just cut-and-dry information, while the other companion books are sort or speculation with backstory and/or other mythology? I dunno. It's 4:50 in the morning and I haven't slept all night, so I'm probably making no sense whatsoever.

WHOA... that's really odd... she likes the lexicon! WB took Steve's timeline for the PoA DVD! i never thought JK would do this...... WHY? i know it's her world and stuff but she's always been great about all this unoffical stuff....

WOW jo is on a suing RAMPAGE, guys! who will she sue next, voldemort? hahahahah sorry. but i am dissapointed to see my (and probably many of your) idol be so concerned about copyright issues when she already has SO MUCH MONEY. seriously, why? anyway, HAPPY HOLLOWEEN!!!!!! i can't believe there was no mugglenet announcement! or anything relating to holloween like there has been before. didn't the books basically start on halloween?

haha I got end-of-paged :) :Wow jo, again, looking out for #1. I would like to say I cant believe she would do this, but seriously with the recent stuff this isn't even below her. Suing a FAN SITE, its not like the books are great literature, they're just extremely popular, Im glad Lexicon is still pulling through. Good luck guys I doubt they will win against a powerhouse like WB but you have to stick up for youre self...even if a giant wench queen on her own agenda pisses on her own fans.

you know, guys, if WB technically owns all harry potter trademarks, this whole suing thing could be their idea. she's in a contract, so she can't outwardly disagree with them, can she? i dunno, i'm not a lawyer...

I love to read the comments when people are actually discussing the story. I understand where Jo is coming from, and she does have the right to sue. As someone pointed out, if the proceeds were going to charity then would it be such an issue? However, if she plans to write the encyclopedia then she has extra information (and any HP fan is going to buy that book anyway!) and Steve is just making a Lexicon of the info that has been organized and can be used as a reference. I thought her news post was a bit snippy, but she is going against a major and respected site that many of us visit regularly. I was really confused about the post when I read it, and was wondering why she said something about companion books but now it makes sense. Man oh man, this is going to be interesting to read about as it develops. I sort of hope that the law suit falls through because I would love to read Steve's book, but JKR is entitled to her characters. Hmph... I wish we knew a bit more about what happened before the law suit was filed because I really can't pick a side here even though Jo and WB will probably win.

oh and, btw, she's not suing steve for the site, she's suing him for the book. i think mugglenet should be a bit clearer in their wording in the news story.

Wow, I've lost faith in Harry Potter fans. Some of you are really clueless. The online Lexicon is FREE and not making profit. Other books are not copy and paste of information already given in her books and interviews where the Lexicon book is. Would it be ok if I took the Lord of the Rings books and wrote down all the info from the books and published them as my own and made money without asking permission?

Um...where exactly do you get off awarding the site recognition for being a great HP site, admitting to use it to check your facts as you are writing, and then suing them over their existence? Not gonna lie, that's pretty awful.

I guess she can, but I could go out and beat someone with a stick if I wanted, Its not right. Nameless Im sure if they were using her name without her full approval she would say something, and if she wasn't all for this there sure wouldn't be that post on her website, at least thats how I see it. I would also like to read the book, it would make for good reference.

roadtripkaraoke please read the artical. Sheis suing the BOOOOOOOKKKKKKK not the website. The book will be making profit off of her story, the online lexicon does not. She talked about writing her own “encyclopedia� right after book 7 came out. Now someone is trying to do the same thing before her and charging $25 for it. She asked them to stop the publishing of it and they were rude and refused, so she took the next step and is now suing the Steve and the book publisher. She has every right. NO ONE has the right to use her story, characters and information to make a profit.

Neptune where do you get off calling other people clueless? Thats a bad analogy because the Lexicon isnt saying its there original work, they're putting facts into a reference book. I can write a book about HTML and publish it, im not saying I made up html, im just making the info easily accessible.

Oh yea! Let's just SUE everyone that SAYS "Harry Potter"!! I love Jo but COME ON! You're freaking rich! The HP LEXICON?? Oh My God. The Lexicon got a Fan Site award! Geez.

Shes suing steve?!?!? WTC Jo? I mean... come on... your encyclopedia will sell purely because you wrote it... I've met steve personally... hes probably one of the biggest fans I know... This is just... shameful. As far as not suing online lexicon but suing steve... STEVE IS LEXICON. He updates that site himself... so suing him over trying to publish things that Hey! she praised him for doing... just in hardback form is ludicris. I'm so dissapointed in you Josephine.

Grnd3lW4Ld I get off calling people clueless because that's sure how most of you are coming off. Would you be ok if you created a world and story, wrote a book then someone re-wrote all your information and tried to sell it to make a profit? I sure the hell wouldn't. It's fine in the online format, because it free for all to see, but now Steve is publishing Jo's info and charging $25. Everything in the Lexicon is copywrited by JKR. It is the property of JKR and the WB. Steve has no right to publish a book and make money off of her info without permission. She asked them to not publish it and the refused and were rude.

I am sure that all Steve wants to do is provide an aide for Harry Potter fans! I would LOVE to have a copy of the Lexicon's Encyclopedia as I am sure many of you would. Yes they are JKR's characters, yes it is her information. But Steve has but so much effort into aiding the fandom and dedicated so much time and energy into creating the Lexicon. I say, if he wants to make money off of it then fine! NO ONE IS GOING TO LOSE FROM THIS SITUATION. The charities are NOT losing money since I am positive that anyone that would but the Lexicon Encyclopedia would definitely buy JKR's, along with thousands of other fans. The fans are happy because we get an Encyclopedia. Steve is happy because he is able to help the fandom and perhaps make some sort of profit- which I believe he definitley deseerves for all his hard work organizing the information and putting into a helpful format. The only possible person that could be losing out in this situation is JKR herself, because she will not be getting money from this book. End of story, this suit is a selfish thing that I cannot believe that JKR is supporting. I can't wait to see more information on this to come.

If shes suing steve... she should sue mugglenet and all the other sites that wrote books about her characters/books before the final book as well. And we all know... that isnt going to happen.

She's suing Steve!? Seriously? But he's like, an essential figure of the fandom! I don't understand why she's doing this.

The lexicon is already available online for free, now he's charging $25 for a book version AFTER JK has already mentioned that she herself had planed to make an HP encyclopedia. I commend Steve's efforts on the Lexicon website, but he didn't have to do it. No one made him, he did it as a fan for the fans, not he's charging fans for free information, and he's doing it without asking the creator of said information for permission.

Poor Steve! I love Steve, he's awesome.

wow. uh, i mean i see where people are saying the lexicon couldn't know everything, but why sue? that seems like a kinda b****y thing to do.

Someone mentioned in their post (and I sure others have/will) that they were disappointed in Jo for this. But the difference between simply posting a fan-made encyclopedia for public viewing on a fansite and publishing a book about it is that with the book, they're making a profit off of her work, and that's not right. Frankly, I'm disappointed with The Harry Potter Lexicon for trying to make a profit off of someone else's work, especially someone they obviously claim to admire so much.

He's a fan! Maybe you've never heard of the Lexicon, I don't know. But as soon as Jo and Co. Not that I have anything against her!!!!

This isn’t a personal attack on Steve. This is law and copyright infringement is illegal. JKR is the creator of HP and now Steve, without permission is trying to make a profit by publishing a book with her information.The mugglenet book is different because it's their own theories and thoughts on HP. Steve is just taking info already written by Jo in her books and selling them.

another one? if the real reason behind writing is for pleasure then there should be no problem with fans also making fellow fans happy. people would still buy if jo bothered to make one

She's protecting her property people. NO ONE has the right to take her work and use it as their own to make a profit.

I'm probably reiterating what some other people have said, but in regards to why no suit was filed against the MuggleNet book creators and the like, the difference is that Steve Vander Ark's book is a rehash of her material, while MuggleNet's book is more or less a book of opinions based on Jo's work. There's really no copyright infringement laws against stating opinions on literature.

Neptune you act like jk is some struggling writer, she has what 1 bit under her sleeve, I would be honored if someone wrote a book ABOUT my book. Steves a fan, writing it for the fans, can you hook me up with youre source for this stuff about her telling him not to and him rudely disagreeing? Not saying youre lying but I haven't seen this info. On the other side, how would you feel if you wrote an entire book, compiling info perhaps for years and then some rich person sues you. Of course hes charging money, you cant have ads really in books, and printing, distributing, materials, that stuff costs money. If someone else profits off hp, the more the merrier right?

I think people are a little confused as to what this law suit is about. Guys, she is NOT suing Steve because of the online lexicon, she is suing for an OFFLINE encyclopedia he's trying to release with RDR books. Now, I wouldn't like to think Steve would do this if he had knowledge that it was illegal, since fansites like Mugglenet already have released books about Harry Potter. BUT, the book MN released was about the guys' own thoughts about what would happen. What Steve is doing here is taking exactly what JKR has said, put it into a book, and making profit out of it. He's making profit directly from JKR'S work. I do hope everything gets resolved with dialogue and without any complications, because it would be a shame if Steve got into more trouble. The HP Lexicon is great.

This really reminds me of Metallica suing a twelve year old for Downloading thier Music...I never saw JK. Rowling as a money hungry capitalist, but that what she seems to be....Look let these people release thier unoffical book, is it really gonna stop people buying an Encyclopedia written by JK Rowling herself. Big Companies and Greedy Artists stomp on the fans all the time and JK Rowling has just added herself to the list. SHAME SHAME SHAME on you Jk Rowling, Shame Shame Shame

He's not writing about her books, he's re-writing info already found in her books. He's steeling her info to make profit. I guess it would be ok then if I re-wrote all the info I found on the Lexicon online then and sold it for money? The info about her asking them to stop publication is on cnn.com and the Leaky Cauldron. ......QUOTE* CNN Money says that the suit claims, "Warner Bros. and Rowling's representatives have been " rebuffed and treated rudely" in their attempts to engage in a dialogue with RDR Books...For example, while claiming not to have the ability or time to respond to plaintiffs' multiple 'cease and desist' letters because of a family tragedy, defendant instead was hawking foreign publishing rights to the infringing book in Germany,' the lawsuit said."

I still think WB is playing more of a part in this that Jo. Yeah she posted it on her site, but they're usually the ones that are obsessive about copyright crap. But then again, it's the books so maybe it is her... I do think she has her reasons, however, because it's HER work, and while other books have talked about her work, a simple compilation of stuff that happens in her books would be plagiarism. She must have given them a warning first, though. :/ Although I think the thing about it conflicting with her encyclopedia is nonsense. :P

She did give them a warning and they refused to stop publication. She is protecting her property, if she doesn't stop Steve publishing and making a profit off of her property, then ANYONE could be doing this and that's not right. That's why she has her story and character copywrited. She's protecting all she has worked hard for over the years. You all realize there would be no Lexicon if it wasn’t for Jo right? If it wasn’t for the info and story JO created then Steve would have had no info to make the Lexicon for all to see online, but now he’s publishing it and charging people…..He’s charging people to read someone that is online for free and already found in JKR’s books. People are obviously blinded by their love of poor ol’ Steve and can’t see that Steve is using Jo’s personal property to make a profit from the fans who will lap up all things HP….

yep, Neptune... according to the cnn article: "The lawsuit doesn't seek action against the Web version of the Lexicon, but criticizes it for numerous sections that it said "regurgitate Ms. Rowling's original creative expression with minimal additional commentary."" http://money.cnn. com/news/newsfeeds/articl es/apwire/ 123ba25fbf59f084d8b6f49c6 730106f. htm (minus spaces)

Exactly. She has nothing against the free web site, but she does have something against someone using her property to make a profit. She's protecting all she's worked hard for for years. It's her story. It was nice of Steve to make a free online database for the fans to find all the info from the HP books, but he has no right to profit from JKR's info.

I think I've been writing too much on this for the amount of time I've been on the computer, but I keep thinking of more stuff to say... Anyway... For those who have the mindset of "it's a book by a fan for fans, who cares, Rowling should let it go", consider this: If this was a somebody, Potter fan or not, and they had taken Jo's characters, her story, and her information, which is essentially what Vander Ark has done, and written another Harry Potter novel and sold it for profit, would you support that book? I'd wager a guess that you wouldn't, because they would have stolen her story. What this Lexicon book has done is the exact same thing. It's taken her material and is using it to make a profit.

""If someone else profits off hp, the more the merrier right?"" Ummmm, Nooooooo..... You may as well say that laws on movie piracy are wrong because when Martin Scorcese makes an academy award winning film, then everyone should copy it and sell it on to make money for themselves, "the More The Merrier". The world doesn't work that way. People are allowed to have ownership over their creations and noone else has the right to take that creation and profit from it. If Steve released a book containing all the essays from HPL there would be no problem, its the actual facts from the books being rewritten which is the issue.

Finally someone with some common sense....

I didn't side with Jo on the Indian issue. But, I most definitely side with her on this one. She specifically said that she was going to create an encyclopedia and someone went and did it. Did they honestly think they were going to get away with it? Did they expect her to say "Oh well since you're doing it, I'll go ahead and let them do it." They are not respecting her intellectual property. I don't like the attitude this publishing company is taking either, "We're going to do it whether you like it or not." I blame the publishing company. There are authors out there (like myself) who genuinely wants to get published with original works of their own and they are publishing an author who has no respect for anyone's intellectual works. I 100% side with her on this, because her agenda of creating a companion book is for charity while this author wants to profit off her for their own financial gain. She said she accepts fan fiction without profit and now that HP is over they want to take it there (getting money).

excuse me while i go and have a cry. i love that guy!!! :'( cant they join forces and make a SUPERPEDIA?! i know i am being very immature..but whatever!!

I don't think Steve's intentions are really the issue at hand. It's a matter of plagerism, which I think gives JK every right to sue. Firstly; it's only the book she's sueing, not the site. Secondly; this book simply compiles Jo's own work, togather in an encyclopedia format. There is no original thought to this book whatsoever. Other bookshave been written about Harry Potter sure, but for example, MN's 'What Will Happen... etc' had their own thoughts and speculations. So they were getting profits from their own ideas. The lexicon will be getting profits from Jo's ideas. Thats the issue. I don't think Jo means to be disrespectful to her fans. Honestly, it's her fans being disrespectful to her by plagerising her work.

People's "love" for Steve is blinding them to the reality that he is illegally using her property to gain profit.

Seriously? I mean, I understand the whole copyright, intellectual property thing, but come on. I, for one, would love to have the Lexicon in book form! It would be so convenient! I don't see why WB and Jo would sue over this book. Why now, why this book? Why not all the other unauthorized guides of the last ten years or so? There are dozens of them, after all! It just seems very arbitrary and meant to hurt fans to choose this specific guide at this specific time.

I want to explain my post a little bit more. There are a lot of fans of the website and the creator. You all like Steve. It's understandable. It's fair to like and be protective of the creator of the website HP Lexicon. I am a writer. You put your heart and soul into your works, you feel like it's a part of you and your baby and you don't want no one touching it. If you don't understand what I'm saying. If you have free time and you decide to write your own books (NO fan fiction). You create the characters and breathe life into them. You are NOT going to want no one touching them. A lot of you may say dang it isn't that deep. LOL! No, it isn't. But, I guarantee once you write "The End" of your own story you will be so proud. You are going to not want anyone's hands on it. That's why she's so overprotective of her works. Once you create something, you will understand. It's not about the money. When I typed the end of my completed book, I said to myself, "Now, I understand why Ms. Joanne Murray is so protective of Harry Potter." I had a hard time letting go of it to send to my private editor.

al u guys need to eat soem ahlloween candy and go watch some sooulja boy.... go

yes to the eating halloween candy but no to soulja boy, unless u watch the one w/texas longhorns doing it. thats the only time its okay. so go watch the lets see how far we've come....come on, u noe u want to...

There is a huge difference between these unauthorized HP books and the Lexicon book. The others are opinion and theory books based on info given by JKR. The Lexicon book IS all the info already found in the HP books. Steve is re=packaging her info in a shorter, more convienaint book and making money from it, even after JKR said she was planing on doing this herself...

no danny they need soulja boy! or u can watch soulaj girl! or if u want a apeaceful song then watch buy u a drink...or akon

I think the only thing I really had a problem with is that JKR said on her website that the charities would suffer because of Steve's Encyclopedia. I completely disagree with this statement as I am positive that any fan that would buy Steve's Encycopedia would of course buy JKRs. Not only that, but many more fans would buy JKR's version! I do not see a competition between the two. I