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An Appeal In the "Harry Potter Lexicon" Case
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "RDR Books, the would-be publisher of the book version of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon' Web site, has filed an appeal from the judge's decision in Warner Bros. Pictures v. RDR Books, the case involving the Harry Potter Lexicon. The judge, after a bench trial, issued an injunction and awarded statutory damages of $6,750 (as we discussed at the time), holding that the Lexicon was not protected by fair use due to (a) sloppiness in attribution in sections, (b) the length of some of the quotes, and (c) imitation of J. K. Rowling's writing style in portions. I recently wrote an article criticizing the opinion, but doubting that an appeal would be taken in view of the small damages award. I guess I underestimated the resolve of the defendants and defendants' lawyers — who include the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society."
To be fair, you may learn through imitating another, its not right for you to profit by such work. To take an example from another art form - I may learn how to paint by copying an established painter, but that doesn't mean that I can create a painting in substantially the same style and profit from it.
We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
Or, instead of not being an oblivious twat, you could continue missing the point.