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September 2011

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Plagiarized fanfic NOT Deathly Hallows

HP fanfic author Melindaleo, has had the unfortunate experience of having her completed 7th Year fanfic, "The Seventh Horcrux," distributed through bit torrent as a "leaked" copy of Deathly Hallows.  From Phoenixsong.net via stmargarets:

The Admin Team of PhoenixSong.net have recently learned that there is a "leaked" file of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows floating around the internet, specifically in bit torrent form.  While people obviously have different opinions on "spoilers" in general, this one is especially troublesome because it is actually a plagiarized version of our own Melindaleo's fan fic, "The Seventh Horcrux", available legitimately here at PhoenixSong: http://www.phoenixsong.net/fanfiction/story/3517/  Please be aware that Melindaleo was in no way involved in re-titling her fan fic as the seventh book or in trying to pass it off as a leaked copy of the seventh book. Someone else did this without her knowledge or permission, and she has been quite upset and worried, especially about the fact that people may be being duped by this situation.

Plagiarism (stealing someone's work and passing it off as belonging to someone else) is a serious crime and one that shouldn't be taken lightly.  If you encounter posts about this story elsewhere, please share this information in any way you feel you can -- private blogs, posts, whatever. Because this is being shared in a bit torrent format, it is especially difficult to get it removed from sites as a stolen work, but perhaps we can at least all help get the *real* author/title information to people instead.  Thanks, all!
I can't imagine anyone on my f-list falling for something as ridiculous as a "leaked" copy of DH.  My sincerest sympathies go out to Melindaelo, though.  In her shoes, I imagine I'd have had a rather panicked initial reaction:  Dear lord, don't let her lawyers contact me! Don't let JKR hate me! On the bright side, at least she has the distinction of knowing JKR is aware of her existence!  But what a miserable way to gain such notoriety. I hope she is getting all the support and assurances she needs during this time. 

And in case I haven't rec'ced this fic in the past, it really does deserve recognition.  I loved reading it as it was a WIP.

Comments

Poor gal! Still infamy can lead to notoriety! Shouldn't think she should get too worried - JKR encourages fanfic and am sure she will hold nothing personal against her.
I'm sure you're right. ;-) JKR tends to be extremely kind to her fans and fanfic writers.
I told Melinda to contact Christopher Little, JKR's agent (I happen to have the e-mail address of one of their staff; it's a long story) and let them know that she had nothing to do with it. She did so, and they actually complimented her by saying they'd been receiving a lot of communication about the story, and it sounded pretty good! So Jo won't be after her. (Besides, Jo reads a lot of the fan boards, and this PSA about Seventh Horcrux is all over 'em now.)

I second what Joia says about the story, though; it's marvelous. It contains one or two plot points that I think are dead wrong (see my predictions...) but they're points on which reasonable minds can disagree, and her writing is splendid. There are chapters at the end of which my heart was in my mouth.
Thanks for the insight, Ken! Glad you were able to point Melinda towards the right individuals. I know from my professional experience that getting through to the right people with important communications like this can be a challenge without the right connections. Good for you for helping in that capacity!

And I need to see if I've done a fuller rec of Seventh Horcrux either here or on Know It Alls. If I haven't, I really ought to do that soon as the story well deserves all the praise it gets.