April 16, 2008
Harry Potter Lexicon Author Breaks Down in Court
The 50-year-old librarian on the receiving end of a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by the Harry Potter author was driven to tears yesterday while testifying in a Manhattan courtroom. Steven Jan Vander Ark (pictured), a former Star Trek fan from Michigan whose exhaustive website The Harry Potter Lexicon would be published in a print version by RDR Books, told lawyers that he was devastated by the lashing he’s received from J.K. Rowling and "the Harry Potter community... This has been an important part of my life for the last nine years or so.”
According to Vander Ark, his website is visited by over 1 million Harry Potter fans per month, but he’s earned just $6,500 from advertising from 2000 to 2007. He currently resides in London, where he’s working on a book about Harry Potter locations and had planned to work as a guide giving Harry Potter themed tours in Europe. But Rowling’s lawsuit put that on hold.
Vander Ark’s frown did turn upside down at one point during his three hour testimony when an attorney said Rowling had criticized his Lexicon’s erroneous etymology for the door-opening charm "Alohomora;” Vander Ark had speculated that the word originated from "aloha" and the Latin word "mora." In fact, Rowling testified, Alohomora comes from a West African dialect. "Really!" Vander Ark exclaimed. "Sorry. That's very exciting stuff for someone like me."
Rowling, sitting just ten feet away from Vander Ark yesterday, was unmoved. In a statement released after the testimony, she said, “A fan’s affectionate enthusiasm should not obscure acts of plagiarism.” The trial is expected to keep geeking out into next week.
Photo from Getty Images
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Nerds. Nerrds. Neeeeerds. NEEEEEEERRRRRRRDDDDSSSS!!!!!!
I wonder if his laptop has been seized by the authorities...
that dude sort of looks like harry potter, if harry potter were 40 years old and was a pedophile.
In the Times article there's a picture of him with a hot red-haired woman. Wife or girlfriend? Nah, not possible.
Uh oh -- this blog entry specifically refers to events and characters that are the intellectual property of Mrs. Rowling. I pray Gothamist doesn't get sued for reproducing this material.
let the nerd publish his book. JK Rowling should get over herself.
I wonder if Trekkies will be suing next for infringement on their level of fanaticism and geekdom. Worst, court case, ever.
I don't get it...CliffsNotes makes a living off of regurgitating other people's work. How is this different?
That's a dude? I thought it was Ms. Hathaway from the Beverly Hillbillies.
Having stolen someone else's ideas to create his own product for possible profit, it is ellgal. Also, he needs to get laid.
Oops. Mispelled "illegal".
"Get a life! Move out of your parent's basements! You.. you ever kissed a girl? I didn't think so."
--- William Shatner
"In the Times article there's a picture of him with a hot red-haired woman."
You must look deep within your heart and soul and redefine "hot" for yourself.
According to Vander Ark, his website is visited by over 1 million Harry Potter fans per month, but he’s earned just $6,500 from advertising from 2000 to 2007.
You're doing it wrong.
I'm taking that Times article with a grain of salt, since it's written by "Anemona Hartocollis." While I've never read any Harry Potter, I know one of the character names when I hear it... there's probably inherent bias in having one of the characters in the books write an article about the case.
Not for adults: skateboards
Harry Potter
"CliffsNotes makes a living off of regurgitating other people's work. How is this different?"
The work in question is much more broad in scope.. CliffsNotes are just summaries and analysis.
I'm so sorry that this is my very first comment on Gothamist - I should be concerned about headier stuff than this but...
Could there be anything better than a war between a hack writer and an obsessed fan? Harry Potter, like Star Trek/Wars before it, may have started out as a good idea but quickly turned into nothing more than product. It is the modern equivalent of Disney, only missing the underpaid "actors" in costumes with giant heads prancing around in 90 degree weather as spoiled children punch and kick them to their next 15 minute break.
Instead of suing the schnook, Rowling and her publisher should throw the guy some money, purchase the damn lexicon and edit it to their own satisfaction. Aside from the money, I'm sure he'll be more thrilled to have his name on the cover of the book in smaller type and way under Rowling's name.
Only $6,500 from advertising over 7 years w/over a million visitors per month? And the pageviews on that site would be 2-3x that.
So he's not even a business savvy geek--what a waste.
@18,
Yes, there is something better than that.
Being the guy who went to a bookstore during the night of a new Harry Potter release, getting access to the store loudspeaker system, and saying "ATTENTION SHOPPERS! VOLDEMORT KILLS SNAPE!" to all the fans waiting to buy the book.
Almost as good as the guy who hacked a prominent Harry Potter forum and emailed all the users the spoilers to the book.
Or writing the spoilers, in chalk, on the car windows of people parked outside bookstores.
Good shit.
Instead of suing the schnook, Rowling and her publisher should throw the guy some money, purchase the damn lexicon and edit it to their own satisfaction.
There would be no reason to purchase her own lexicon, but she could have gone about this a bit differently.
Once you have a billion dollars, suing a fan who you've supported makes you look petty. There's no real difference between what she thought was OK on the website and putting it down in print. What, does she think that if she puts out a lexicon book that no one is going to buy it?
Wow, this kind of reminds me of the good ol' days when Anne Rice started stalking, threatening (physically, even!) and generally harassing anyone who wrote Vampire Chronicles fanfic.
http://www.thelittledrink.net/vampires/end.html
But then again, nobody was trying to sell the fanfic...
Batshit crazy, that woman. She lost a lot of fans over this.
"Good shit."
Woohoo, that is good. Because these people are nerdy, immature, and uncool... so any cool, intelligent, and mature person should pick on them to spoil their fun! I mean we all learned that in junior high: it's much cooler to be a bully than to be a nerd.
wow, fun is 12 years old. shouldn't you be in school?
@23
lolwut???
splicer is right. JKR should buy the geek's stuff and give him a credit as a contributor. He probably just wants the rub of getting acknowledged by her.
But #20, thinking highly of trying to ruin the experience of people reading a book leaves me underwhelmed.
But #20, thinking highly of trying to ruin the experience of people reading a book leaves me underwhelmed
I think it's funnier if done to grown ups than kids. Matter of fact, it's not funny at all if done to kids and borders on bully-like behavior.
That said, 45 year old Potter obsessed folks can get over it.
Eleanor Roosevelt?