Re: JKRowling and Warner Bros sue HP Lexicon

On Nov 4, 4:06 pm, Thom Madura <Tommad...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Here in Minnesota wrote:
Sirius Kase wrote:
-lots snip-
I know nothing of NParker's background, but I do know that quite a few
people do not equate intellectual property with tangible property. IP
wasn't even recognized by law until relatively recently. When you
steal a car, someone no longer has a car. When you copy on idea,
everyone who ever knew the idea still has it. So, the car example
isn't convincing. Rowling still has her millions of dollars, she
still owns the brand, it is doubtful that Steve has caused her any
real harm. But, no one really knows until someone who understand IP
law gets a hold of his book.

Clearly, without looking at it, we know Steve has used Rowling's book
in creating his book. He hasn't claimed it to be a critical work or
even a satire. He claims to have merely organized the facts
differently, not as a story, but as a reference work. He has added
value by doing this, as demonstrated by his publisher expecting to
make money by publishing it, but Rowling's lawyers don't see this as
the kind of value that copyright law is meant to encourage.

So, we must wait and see. We really don't know whether Steve's book
infringes, but WB and Rowling do have the right to sue.

I also think "stealing a car" analogy is flawed. I'm glad Rowling got paid
for her work and her idea. I do have a hard time with the view that one
should get paid for every cent made by something based on their idea.

I like tissue paper to blow my nose and I'm glad that someone came up with
the idea and I hope he made money on the invention... I don't think that
person should get paid every time I blow my nose.

I compete in Disc Golf [it's like ball golf but played with Frisbee like
discs]. Now and then, there's a obvious line everyone shoots and I will
discover a new line. In the first tournament or league I shoot this new line
I may gain a stroke on the competition but the next tournament there will be
several other players shooting my "copyrighted" line. Yes I realize that a
idea for a new golf lane isn't the same as writing a book but some one other
than Rowling typing the word "Dumbledore" isn't the same as stealing a car.

As a side note.... I view the lexicon book more like a telephone book... the
money is made from organizing information.

Which reminds me... Do you remember the guy who tried to copyright his name
and sue anyone who said it?

You are missing a much bigger picture.

Virtually every industry today depends on their ownership of their
intellectual property. If they did not own what they developed - why
spend the money to develop it?

First to Market advantage: the first to offer a particular product has
a big advantage over other people who offer similar products (not
clones) unless the later product is significantly better or cheaper.
Copyrights and Patents amplify the FtMA, especially for identical or
extremely similar products.

For instance - the Drug industry. Why spend millions of dollars
developing a drug if another could just duplicate it and make the profit?

Drugs are almost as easy to duplicate as books if you have the right
equipment.
Most people are in favor of generics, but anyone with a brain knows
that the original developer needs a chance to recoup costs and make a
decent profit. Normally, it would take another drug company a day or
two to reverse engineer a drug, then a week or so to go into
production. But, since that is probably too short of a time for the
first company to make enough money, the law extends the period of time
that they have a monopoy on that drug.

Other products take longer to reproduce, but the reproduction time is
getting shorter. A closely related problem is design cycles are also
getting shorter. When I first entered the cell phone industry, we
were given a year for each design cycle, but now it is down to
months. When this happens, the duration of patent protection becomes
less important, all the companies will reverse engineer and come up
with a different way to implement the popular features, so that patent
length becomes irrelevent. So, in cell phones, you want to be first
with the new cool features. If your company is always first, you will
do well. The company that keeps engineering new product keeps making
money. This is the oppposite business model of writing a book and
earning royalites on that book until the day you die.

These business models are both extremes (and no extreme doesn't mean
bad, it just means it's hard to find a realistic example that is even
further away). And, technology companies do defend their patents, so
it's not a pure example. But, there is a problem with copyright
durations being as long as they currently are. I am so glad
automobile designers don't have to devise an alternative to the wheel,
or come up with a new "look and feel" for the automobile user
interface (that's the steering wheel and pedals) for every new
company.


.

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