Elizabeth Osborne

My Harry Potter Fan-Fiction Story!

Wow, writing this was so much harder than I imagined. I spent a couple days on just this short piece. I feel like I can never edit it enought. This would never be a copy I would send to a publisher! I have so much respect for J.K. Rowling because she spent 17 years writing the Harry Potter novels! I can't even imagine!

I was unable to upload this to fan-fiction.net right now because they make new members wait a couple days before they upload in an attempt to block spam. However, I will be able to upload it in a couple days.

I am still putting my creative gallery together. I can't decide if I want to rewrite and change Harry Potter of if I want to keep the story as is. Either way, I would like to put together a photo gallery of images to go along with the story.

Here is the plan or outline for what my fan-fiction story will consist of:

Epilogue:

Nineteen Years Later

My plan for the story is to have the same characters show up at the train station to see their children off to Hogwarts. However, I don’t want to focus on the children like the original did. Instead, I want everything to seem normal and happy, seemingly perfect. Once the children get on the train, the dynamic changes. Instead of making small talk, the adults start a serious conversation. They will discuss the new wave of power that is coming through and what they will do to maintain order. They will reminisce about the days when they were in school and how their parents thought they were so safe but really…

Then I want the story to cut to the children on the train. They will also be talking about something much more serious then when they left their parents. The children are as much aware of the new power struggle as their parents, and they have their own plan on how to deal with it from within Hogwarts. This will show that, just like their parents, they have a knack for getting themselves in dangerous situations…

For the collaborative trailer, I would want to include some images that relate to my project. One image that comes to mind is the Time Magazine cover from 2003.



I really love this image and I think it does a great job of showing how much of a phenomenon Harry Potter became. I would also like to include some pictures of the books themselves. I would like to find pictures of the books from different countries. I would like just have the images show how much of a phenomenon Harry Potter became world wide.

Im not sure if this will work or not but... here goes

Click here

Final Essay link:

Whom Does Harry Potter Belong To?

Wishful thinking for Spring Break.
I will not be in Mexico. I will be working at Chili's. Fun timessss!




View Adventure Map in a larger map

I am still unsure of what I want to do for my creative response to my project. One thing I was thinking about doing was writing my own fan fiction. Something else I was thinking would be some kind of photo collage that shows how Harry Potter has stayed strong in popularity over the years. However, this idea is similar to what my trailer was. I am obviously going to work on my trailer more and tweek it, so this might end up working out. I'm still a little unsure of which direction I want to go in.

During class, we talked more about the creative response to our projects. I think I would like to do something where I re-write the ending of the last Harry Potter book. I'm not sure if I want to just re-write it the way I would've wanted it to end or if I want to make it an interactive reading. Maybe have links that people can click to help direct the story in several different directions. I would need to do some research on how to set something like that up though.

Rough Draft of Essay:
Whom Does Harry Potter Belong To?





This is still a very rough draft. I was just basically trying to write down some information. I still need to narrow down my topic a little more. I look forward to any comments and criticisms. My essay can cover so much that I'm afraid I am going to branch out too far.

My project is centered around Harry Potter and the phenomenon it has become. The question I am asking is: Whom does Harry Potter belong to? Harry Potter has branched out to so many different forms of media today. It is a book, book-on-tape, movie, computer game, video game, action figures, legos, and a theme park. Not to mention the numerous fan fiction that has been written about it. J.K. Rowling herself has sold the rights to Harry Potter to Warner Brothers and Hasbro. Is she still the "real" owner of Harry Potter? What about the legion of loyal fans? Don't they have some right to it after all these years?

Some people may think that, of course, J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. She created him, and created the magical world that everyone knows and loves. Even if she sold the rights to her work does not mean she is not the real owner. On the other hand, some people will argue that creating something does not necessarily mean that she owns it. Were all of her ideas original? Probably not. In fact, there have been several lawsuits brought against her saying that she stole someone's idea. You can compare Harry Potter very similarly to Lord of the Rings, but that doesn't mean that she was actively trying to make it similar to that story.

I will incorporate Lessig's Remix Culture when I address this argument in my essay. Does remixing something make it yours? If that is the case then Harry Potter belongs to many people. Including J.K. Rowling and the fans alike.

Whom does Harry Potter belong to?

Adler, Shawn. “’Harry Potter’ Author J.K. Rowling’s Copyright Case: Behind All The Legal Jargon.” MTV. April 15, 2008. Web. March 1, 2010.

This is an article I found that is about the “fair use” policy in copyright laws. This is discussing a case where someone other than J.K. Rowling created a “Harry Potter Lexicon”.
This is important because it discusses the legal issues of fan fiction. How far is too far?
I can use this for my project to describe some fan fiction. This can help answer the question of “Whom does Harry Potter belong to?” Fan fiction can sometimes go to far, but is it wrong if it is not done to cause harm?

“Authorship Guidelines”. President and Fellows of Harvard College. December 17, 1999. Web. February 15, 2010.

This is basically an article about authorship guidelines. It gives a brief overview of how authorship works.
This is important because to understand authorship, one should know how to obtain it. This article is really just meant to inform. It doesn’t give too much extra information, so it is more for a scholarly purpose.
This is helpful to my project because I can use it to describe how some things can have authorships that overlap. For example, J.K. Rowling has authorship over the Harry Potter books, but does she necessarily have authorship over the movies?

“Best Sellers.” New York Times. February 15, 2010. Web. February 15, 2010.

This is the New York Times Bestseller book list. This includes all different genres of books, and even has a separate category for each.
This is an important website because it helps to generate buzz about new and upcoming books. It also shows how one form of media can help another. People of all ages can access this site to find books that they may want to purchase for themselves or others.
For my project, this is important because I can use it to, again, prove how movies are helping and enhancing books. For instance, many books that are on the bestseller list are not necessarily new books, but they are being made into a movie. Movies are promoted well before they actually come out and this generates buzz about the book. People will have enough time to buy the book and read it before they see the movie.

Brown, Craig. “Harry Potter story copying claim is ‘absurd’ says JK Rowling.” Scotsman. February 18, 2010. Web. March 1, 2010.

This is an article that gives another side to the copyright debate with Harry Potter. Someone is claiming that J.K. Rowling stole from his or her ideas.
This is important because it shows that Harry Potter was not the first of its kind. This will show that other stories were similar to it, which will help me with the argument and examination of how Harry Potter became so popular.


Brown, Mark. “Film of the Book: Top 50 Adaptations Revealed.” Guardian News and Media Limited. April 19, 2006. Web. February 15, 2010.

This is an article about book-to-movie adaptations. One person is basically giving his opinion on what makes a good adaptation and then gives a list of 50 books that were made into good movies.
This article is important because people may have seen a movie and not even realized it was first a novel. I think this is very unfortunate not only for the author but for the reader. Reading a book and watching a movie are two different by enjoyable experiences. I believe someone will enjoy a movie more if they have read the book at some point.
This is important to my project because I want to show that books turned into movies do not ruin the quality of the book. I want to show that a book can be enhanced by a movie. Some people love the book and hate the movie and vice versa. However, some people like the book even better after seeing the movie.


“Hasbro Wins Wide Range of Rights for Harry Potter from Warner Bros. Consumer Products.” Time Warner. February 11, 2000. Web. March 1, 2010.

This is an article discussing how Hasbro and Warner Brothers both own some form of Harry Potter.
This is important because it gives an example of how widespread the popularity of Harry Potter has become.
I can use this in my project to describe how many forms of media Harry Potter has taken over. I can also use it to give examples of just how big the Harry Potter fandom has become.



Lathey, Gillian. “The Travels of Harry: International Marketing and the Translation of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Books. Project Muse. 2005. Web. March 1, 2010.

This is an article that is discussing the popularity of Harry Potter internationally. It asks and answers the question of “How does a book become an international bestseller?”
This is important because it will help me to hypothesis why Harry Potter has become so popular. Was it the marketing campaign or something else? This article gives me one perspective on the idea.
I can use this to support my arguments of how and why Harry Potter has become as popular as it is. I will also be able to discuss the popularity not only in the United States but worldwide.


Markson, Max. “JK Rowling sued in High Court of England for Major Harry Potter Copyright Breach.” PR Newswire. February 17, 2010. Web. March 1, 2010.

This is another article that is discussing the recent copyright case against J.K. Rowling.
This is important because it gives another perspective on the issues of the copyright case.
I can use this in my project to talk about how idea and originality of Harry Potter is debated, which touches upon the question again of who really owns this idea.

Nel, Philip. "Is There Text in This Advertising Campaign?: Literature, Marketing, and Harry Potter." Project Muse. 2005. Web. March 1, 2010.
This is an article written by Philip Nel that is discussing the 'bonanza' that is Harry Potter. He is describing the marketing campaign and if it has gone too far to promote Harry Potter.
This is an important article because it describes in detail some of the intense and creative marketing that went into making Harry Potter a huge success. Understanding how Harry Potter has become so popular is important to my project.
I can use this to better understand some of the marketing plan for Harry Potter. Also, I can use some of the examples in my movie. This will help to examine the question of "Whom does Harry Potter belong to?"

Popkin, Helen A.S. “Harry Potter and the Copyright Quandary.” MSNBC. April 18, 2008. Web. March 1, 2010.

This is an open letter that was written to J.K. Rowling about her recent lawsuit with the librarian over the “Harry Potter Lexicon.”
This is important because he addresses the question of “Whom does Harry Potter belong to?” Is it really wrong to express your devotion to something that you love? Who was this really hurting?
I can use this to show just how devoted some fans are to Harry Potter. Some people love it so much that they may even feel as if they have some ownership.


Richardson, Megan L. and Tan, David. “The Art of Retelling: Harry Potter and Copyright in a Fan-Literature Era.” Social Science Research Network. March 20, 2009. Web. March 1, 2010.

This is a type of research paper that was written about Harry Potter and Copyright.
This is important because it is able to give accurate facts and opinions about Harry Potter and Fan-fiction and Copyright.
I can use this in my project to either add to my argument or to give a different side to my argument. I can use this to better understand fan-fiction and copyright.

Wu, Time. “Harry Potter and the International Order of Copyright.” Slate. June 27, 2003. Web. March 1, 2010.
This is an article discussing how Harry Potter has affected the young adult book market internationally.
It is important because it shows just how widespread the popularity of Harry Potter is.
I can use this in my project because this article gives examples of how Harry Potter has been reused to create new book series. There are Chinese versions of Harry Potter, Russian versions, etc.

Right now I'm excited about my project and my topic. However, I feel it is still a little broad and I'm having trouble breaking it down. I keep thinking I want to talk about one subject and then I drift into something else.

I am nervous about having enough sources. It is harder to find articles than I initially thought. I have something specific I am looking up, so it makes it a little bit harder.

I think I want to focus on who owns the rights to Harry Potter. How many differnt forms of media is Harry Potter represented by? Is J.K. Rowling still the main owner or is she just now the creator. How much of a say does she have over the Harry Potter franchise?

My topic that I am exploring is how one form of media can evole into several different types of multimedia. Focus: Harry Potter and how it has covered just about every aspect of media today. The question will then be: Does J.K. Rowling, the author of the original Harry Potter book series, have rights and authorship to every type of media that Harry Potter is a part of?

Today a book series can take on a life of its own. Harry Potter has been made into books on tape, movies, computer games, video games, legos, fan fiction, toys, candy, soundtracks, and even a theme park. J.K. Rowling created the foundation for all of this, but she only wrote the books. She didn't direct or produce the movies, for example. Should she still have primary ownership and authorship? This is important today because a multimedia explosion like this is not uncommon e.g. Twilight and Avatar.

It is my opinion, that yes, the original author should always have credit to some degree because it was their concept and ideas that sparked the multimedia phenomenon. However, so many other people are involed in creating the other types of media and they feel a sense of pride and ownership as well.

-Elizabeth Osborne

Authorship Guidelines. President and Fellows of Harvard College. December 17, 1999. Web. February 15, 2010.

This is basically an article about authorship guidelines. It gives a brief overview of how authorship works.

This is important because to understand authorship, one should know how to obtain it. This article is really just meant to inform. It doesn’t give too much extra information, so it is more for a scholarly purpose.

This is helpful to my project because I can use it to describe how some things can have authorships that overlap. For example, J.K. Rowling has authorship over the Harry Potter books, but does she necessarily have authorship over the movies?



Best Sellers. New York Times. February 15, 2010. Web. February 15, 2010.

This is the New York Times Bestseller book list. This includes all different genres of books, and even has a separate category for each.

This is an important website because it helps to generate buzz about new and upcoming books. It also shows how one form of media can help another. People of all ages can access this site to find books that they may want to purchase for themselves or others.

For my project, this is important because I can use it to, again, prove how movies are helping and enhancing books. For instance, many books that are on the bestseller list are not necessarily new books, but they are being made into a movie. Movies are promoted well before they actually come out and this generates buzz about the book. People will have enough time to buy the book and read it before they see the movie.



Brown, Mark. Film of the Book: Top 50 Adaptations Revealed. Guardian News and Media Limited. April 19, 2006. Web. February 15, 2010.

This is an article about book-to-movie adaptations. One person is basically giving his opinion on what makes a good adaptation and then gives a list of 50 books that were made into good movies.

This article is important because people may have seen a movie and not even realized it was first a novel. I think this is very unfortunate not only for the author but for the reader. Reading a book and watching a movie are two different by enjoyable experiences. I believe someone will enjoy a movie more if they have read the book at some point.

This is important to my project because I want to show that books turned into movies do not ruin the quality of the book. I want to show that a book can be enhanced by a movie. Some people love the book and hate the movie and vice versa. However, some people like the book even better after seeing the movie.

Here is my movie trailer! I used Windows Movie Maker, which I found to be much easier than Quicktime. It was much more user-friendly. I did run into several issues when I was trying to upload this video. Hope this works!

I thought this article was very interesting. The first little story that was told in the introduction was a good way to set up the article. Of course, people are going to sympathize with a mother wanting to video her child dancing to the radio. This puts the reader in the frame of mind the author wanted them to be in to continue reading.

Later on the story talks about Yoko Ono not allowing a tribute to John Lennon. This made me upset because I feel like no one is trying to steal or hurt anyone in instances like this. It made me think of the days of Napster. Lennon was an artist and created something so beautiful that many people wanted to make a tribute to it. To me, there is nothing wrong with that.

I feel that people should not be punished by big corporations for being able to use the technology that is availabe to them. For instance, if someone downloads 4,000 songs for free from Napster and they get caught. I do not think the penalty should fall back on the person but rather Napster. This did happen, but so many people were sued and had to pay for songs and other things they downloaded.

I think the advances in technology today, the iPad and the Amazon Kindle, will lead to more illegal downloads and usage. People will soon probably be downloading books illegally from the internet. But, these companies keep coming out with more and more advanced technology so they should expect that people are going to be able to do use their "creative license" in some way.

This is a very, very rough draft. I was having trouble making everything overlap each other. I've never used Quicktime before, and I really am not a fan. Also I can not get videos to save to Quicktime.



Trailer Draft">

For my trailer I definitely know I want to use music. I probably don't want to use any music that has lyrics unless they fit with my trailer. I think that would distract from the overall content.

One type of project that I am thinking about doing would focus on images and sounds that tell a story. I would like to focus on how images really stick in our minds, and how we are able to think of an entire story just by looking at one picture. I would like to find pictures that everyone will recognize and know the story behind it.

I would like to do a type of b-roll clip with audio commentary from news clips. I'm not sure if I will be able to find exactly what I need. If not, I can just use the music and that will prove my point that everyone knows the story behind the picture without even being told.

I have one more idea I am thinking over for my project. I am interested in how an author can create a book but then the characters and ideas he/she created can become so much more. Is he/she still the author? One idea can have so many different dimensions. For example, Harry Potter has books, movies, video games, computer games, and even a theme park.

What should I focus on for my semester project?

The two questions are:  "What is a multimedia author?" and "How does multimedia writing enable new forms of creativity?"

A multimedia author, to me, is someone who is able to use different forms of media to create something. I feel like I would like to define a multimedia author more in depth. One way I think I can do that would be through researching and learning about a successful author that's book or books has become made into a successful movie. I love books that become movies. I love to analyze the similarities and differences and decide what I would have done or what I liked most.

Tenner makes some very compelling and troubling points in this article about plagiarism. These systems that could be in place to prevent plagiarism could actually falsely accuse students of plagiarism. As an English major, that is frightening. It would be an awful feeling to be accused of plagiarizing a piece of work that you know you worked extremely hard on.




I also found these lines particularly intriguing: “The concept of the biosphere exposed our environmental fragility; the emergence of the plagiosphere perhaps represents our textual impasse.” To me these lines are saying that expanding our knowledge in one area can lead us to become vulnerable in another. This has happened time and time again within society. It is not a new concept but at the same time, it is an unsettling concept. With that said I am led right into the last lines of the article “…but at least they left us the illusion of the originality of our words. Soon that, too, will be gone.”

Am I a "digital native"?

I would have to answer, yes.

My digital education began as soon as I was born I suppose. My mother is a computer specialist, so I had no choice in the matter really. My mother, Rebecca, works for the WVU Extension Service; therefore, it is her job to stay current on all things digital.

My brother and I have used computers and computer games for just about as long as I can remember. I have a picture of my brother and myself sitting on a porch playing with what looks like the oldest laptop ever. My mom always kept us up-to-date.

I used the web when I was young to research fun topics and my interests. I also used the computer to play games and write stories. My love for the computer has grown even stronger now. My computer has my entire life on it. Not only am I obsessed with my computer but I have iPods, digital cameras, and a Smartphone. I'm sure this obsession will not fade anytime soon.