Elizabeth Osborne

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