Oi!

[ivyblossom]

Well, this just makes me sad:

Rowling acknowledged she once bestowed an award on Vander Ark's Web site because, she said, she wanted to encourage a very enthusiastic fan.

But she said she "almost choked on my coffee" one morning when she realized Vander Ark had warned others not to copy portions of his Web site. She said she now has second thoughts about all the encouragement she has given to online discussions and Web sites devoted to her books.

"I never censored it or wanted to censor it," she said, adding that if she loses the lawsuit, she will conclude she essentially gave away her copyrights by encouraging the Web sites.

"Other authors will say, `I need to exercise more control. She was an idiot. She let it all go,'" Rowling said.

Comments

[ivyblossom.livejournal.com]

Of course, if she wins, they won't have much to go on in order to "go after" people who write fanfiction, will there? If what you say is true, how do cliff's notes manage to avoid prosecution, do you think?

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Of course, if she wins, they won't have much to go on in order to "go after" people who write fanfiction, will there?
Not sure what you mean by this. Who would go after them?

If what you say is true, how do cliff's notes manage to avoid prosecution, do you think?
Um... I wouldn't imagine that would be the same thing at all, because Cliff's Notes are going after a totally different market. The author is going for people who want to read a book; the Cliff's Notes are going for people who want to be able to learn stuff about a book.

I would imagine Cliff's might get into trouble if they tried to publish a book for an author whose work is still under copyright (Shakespeare's stuff isn't any more - anyone can use it) and who also was planning on putting together a Cliff's Notes-like work.

But I don't know any of that for sure. Good question :)

[ivyblossom.livejournal.com]

Like this one? (http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/The-Handmaid-s-Tale.id-122.html) If authors have such exclusive rights under the law, how does this company exist? Does the law allow the author rights based on what market they're going for?

[kerri]

From what someone said in another entry over at praetorianguard, in the cases where the work isn't in the public domain, the books contain a note with the author's permission. Otherwise they wouldn't go ahead with a Cliff's Notes version.