Book People Archive

Re: copyright and Harry Potter online

The Harry Potter sites are a clear instance of trademark 
infringement and potential dilution.  The fact that the 
sites are noncommercial is irrelevant.

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> We have been talking about copyright, and now it
> is time to drag in Harry Potter.
> 
> I refer you to an article in "Entertainment-Rewired," at
> http://www.entertainment-rewired.com/fan_apology.htm
> which details Warner Bros.'s assault on fan web sites
> put up by teen-age readers of the Harry Potter books.
> 
> Note there is no question of copyright infringement here.
> The Warner Bros. lawyers simply demand that the fans
> transfer the site domain names to Warner Bros. so that the
> publisher has full control over all 'intellectual property.'
> Fans such as Claire Field evidently wish simply to use 
> computers to add value to the works they have purchased, 
> by donating their own creative efforts to the public on 
> the web.  As her solicitor's letter points out, her 
> actions are in no way illegal (though the publisher
> wishes to characterize them as such).  Even trademark
> infringement is not accurate here--the web site is
> non-commercial and there is no confusion over its source.
> 
> It is correct that Harry Potter books were quickly pirated
> and distributed in alt.binary newsgroups on Usenet.  However,
> this situation has not apparently stopped Warner Bros. and
> J. K. Rowling from making millions of dollars (pounds) from 
> the works and their derivatives.  In fact, it might be
> proposed that the widespread copying and distribution of
> the works made even more money for the publishers, who
> had for purposes of publicity artificially engendered
> a situation of scarcity on initial publication.  
> 
> (The situation is the same with Microsoft software in
> China, massively duplicated without authorization.
> Apparently Microsoft will tolerate this situation, so
> as not to encourage users to turn to the free GNU/Linux
> or other operating systems; Microsoft wishes to establish
> market dominance, looking forward to the time when they
> will be able to charge users.  Computers and the Internet
> make it possible to establish a monopoly position very
> quickly, by means of 'network effects'--this is more
> important than short-term profit--'strong intellectual
> property rights' cement the monopoly, eventually, and
> will be established by means of trade negotiations--even
> though China has no history of the individual rights that
> are the entire basis for copyright law.)
>  
> I believe the correct response to this situation is that
> http://www.potterwar.org.uk/
> has initiated, a boycott of Harry Potter merchandise.
>              
> I would encourage those of us who wish to use computers
> and the Internet to promote literature and literacy not
> to get sucked into these commercial enterprises.  Copying
> and distributing these copyrighted works will not in
> any sense make 'information free.'  It only increases
> the dependency of all us on these giant global media 
> corporations for our popular culture.  Instead, let us
> promote the public domain and our own ownership of our
> culture, and fight in every way the corporations that
> wish to dominate it by 'strong intellectual property
> rights' and excessive control.
> 
> -- 
> nom:"Eric"  Eric Eldred  Eldritch Press
> mailto:Eldred@[redacted]
> vCard3.0:http://www.eldritchpress.org/EricEldred.vcf