Lemme see ... okay, you can read all about it on Fandom_Wank but that'll take you about 30 hours. I'm just warning you.
The important facts of the case, so far as I can tell:
a) Steve Van Der Ark is not actually named in it, the suit is against his publisher. If they lose, he won't actually have to pay money or anything.
b) JKR has said in the past that she will publish an encyclopedia sort of thing of Harry Potter, and give her royalties to charity. (Note that the publisher hasn't said that they'd give their profits to charity, at least not as I know.) One of JKR's arguments is that people are going to mistakingly buy the Harry Potter Lexicon instead of her book which she actually hasn't written yet, therefore de-moneying a charity and cheating her out of her hard-earned cash, etc.
It should be noted, though, that JKR said her encyclopedia would have new original content in it, so that's not exactly the same thing as the Lexicon.
c) I don't think Steve's profit is the biggest deal here; he's had ads and other money-raising things on his site for a while now, and plenty of people make a ton of money off Harry Potter fansites, wizard rock, etc. JKR's argument was that she didn't mind the Lexicon while it was free for other fans to use.
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The important facts of the case, so far as I can tell:
a) Steve Van Der Ark is not actually named in it, the suit is against his publisher. If they lose, he won't actually have to pay money or anything.
b) JKR has said in the past that she will publish an encyclopedia sort of thing of Harry Potter, and give her royalties to charity. (Note that the publisher hasn't said that they'd give their profits to charity, at least not as I know.) One of JKR's arguments is that people are going to mistakingly buy the Harry Potter Lexicon instead of her book which she actually hasn't written yet, therefore de-moneying a charity and cheating her out of her hard-earned cash, etc.
It should be noted, though, that JKR said her encyclopedia would have new original content in it, so that's not exactly the same thing as the Lexicon.
c) I don't think Steve's profit is the biggest deal here; he's had ads and other money-raising things on his site for a while now, and plenty of people make a ton of money off Harry Potter fansites, wizard rock, etc. JKR's argument was that she didn't mind the Lexicon while it was free for other fans to use.