JoshuaZ comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 10 - Less Wrong

11 Post author: Oscar_Cunningham 07 March 2012 04:46PM

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Comment author: JoshuaZ 12 March 2012 10:40:29PM 5 points [-]

There's a subtle joke in chapter 78 that I'm not sure is deliberate or not. While the most obvious thing connected to polyjuice potion and catgirls is what happens to Hermione in The Chamber of Secrets, what Harry does is mix physics and magic in a way that is also connected to catgirls. In some forums devoted to Dungeons and Dragons there's a saying that goes more or less like "Whenever you try to apply physics to magic, God kills a catgirl." I have to wonder if there's a deliberate reference to this.

Comment author: gwern 13 March 2012 03:25:07AM 13 points [-]

I think that's a stretch. It's just another poke at canon.

(To Eliezer: if you're ever worried about the legal status of MoR, parody is the most obvious way to protect yourself under fair use doctrine, and these pokes at canon will be a main part of your case. I suggest not going light on them to the extent possible.)

Comment author: Luke_A_Somers 16 March 2012 01:15:44PM 0 points [-]

The spokesman for the Christopher Little literary agency said: "JK Rowling's reaction is that she is very flattered by the fact there is such great interest in her Harry Potter series and that people take the time to write their own stories. "Her concern would be to make sure that it remains a non-commercial activity to ensure fans are not exploited and it is not being published in the strict sense of traditional print publishing."

Having said that, is it not rather more difficult to back up and start protecting your IP more carefully?

Comment author: TobyBartels 23 March 2012 04:51:50PM 1 point [-]

This permission means nothing; they can change their mind about being ‘flattered’ as easily as they can change their mind about the Harry Potter Lexicon being ‘great’.

Comment author: gwern 16 March 2012 01:53:57PM 0 points [-]

Typical copyfraud intimidation - there's nothing to stop Eliezer from publishing commercially or as traditional print publishing, if he thinks it can be defended as fair use.

Having said that, is it not rather more difficult to back up and start protecting your IP more carefully?

IANAL, but I don't see how pre-emptive addition of parodic elements could be a bad thing - at this point it's just part of the ongoing editing process in which Eliezer has revised many passages, swapped chapters, etc. If a threat had been mailed him and then he frantically began revising it, that might be different.

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