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

briancarnell · 05-05-2008, 04:42 PM

There was an extreme amount of misinformation about copyrights and trademarks in this thread. A trademark does not give you absolute control over the trademarked word or phrase as was asserted by a number of posters.

As for this book, Rowling is going to lose. Unauthorized guides to fictional universes are a dime a dozen, though typically they are TV related -- such as all those unauthorized guides to Lost or BTVS which have no connection with the copyright/trademark owner and are published for the same reason any good book is, namely to make a profit.

Tim Wu did a nice job of summarizing the case against Rowling at Slate, esp. in light of Ty's failed lawsuit over a Beanie Baby collector's guide a few years ago: http://www.slate.com/id/2181776/

Rowling will lose, and that's a good thing.

05-05-2008, 04:42 PM	#78
briancarnell Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2008 Device: Kindle	Misinformation There was an extreme amount of misinformation about copyrights and trademarks in this thread. A trademark does not give you absolute control over the trademarked word or phrase as was asserted by a number of posters. As for this book, Rowling is going to lose. Unauthorized guides to fictional universes are a dime a dozen, though typically they are TV related -- such as all those unauthorized guides to Lost or BTVS which have no connection with the copyright/trademark owner and are published for the same reason any good book is, namely to make a profit. Tim Wu did a nice job of summarizing the case against Rowling at Slate, esp. in light of Ty's failed lawsuit over a Beanie Baby collector's guide a few years ago: http://www.slate.com/id/2181776/ Rowling will lose, and that's a good thing.