MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Orson Scott Card, "Rowling's hypocrisy is so thick I can hardly breathe"

evil_bunny · 05-02-2008, 01:53 PM

First off, I'm guilty of not reading his post. So perhaps he knows things that I don't, but I rather doubt that. I've been tracking the specifics of the trial through news outlets, such as those from the Harry Potter fandom, the Leaky Cauldron.

The matter at hand is not that you can't create derivative works, because there are *many* books of scholarly analysis of the Harry Potter books. Please go to your local Borders and ask one of the booksellers there to help you. If they can't / don't / won't I'm sorry.

The matter at hand is that 91% (a figure from sworn testimony provided in the trial) of the book was lifted directly from the text in the books, without proper citations. If you recall in school, teachers would allow you to quote from other sources, but only if you managed to cite? This book did not provide the citations.

Offers have been made to allow the book to be published, if the author would simply rewrite the text in his own words (or provide sufficient citations) however such requests have been refused. The book was rushed to try and capitalize on the publication of the seventh Harry Potter book.

Please note that the author is not the target of the lawsuit, as his contract shields him from liability. The publisher, RDR is the defendant. J.K. Rowling has always been very supportive of the online fan community, but the fan award should not be considered authorization for plagiarism.

05-02-2008, 01:53 PM	#39
evil_bunny Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: SoCal, US Device: Kobo Aura, Sony T1, iPhone 5S, iPad 3rd Gen	Orson Scott Card believes many things I don't agree with First off, I'm guilty of not reading his post. So perhaps he knows things that I don't, but I rather doubt that. I've been tracking the specifics of the trial through news outlets, such as those from the Harry Potter fandom, the Leaky Cauldron. The matter at hand is not that you can't create derivative works, because there are many books of scholarly analysis of the Harry Potter books. Please go to your local Borders and ask one of the booksellers there to help you. If they can't / don't / won't I'm sorry. The matter at hand is that 91% (a figure from sworn testimony provided in the trial) of the book was lifted directly from the text in the books, without proper citations. If you recall in school, teachers would allow you to quote from other sources, but only if you managed to cite? This book did not provide the citations. Offers have been made to allow the book to be published, if the author would simply rewrite the text in his own words (or provide sufficient citations) however such requests have been refused. The book was rushed to try and capitalize on the publication of the seventh Harry Potter book. Please note that the author is not the target of the lawsuit, as his contract shields him from liability. The publisher, RDR is the defendant. J.K. Rowling has always been very supportive of the online fan community, but the fan award should not be considered authorization for plagiarism.