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History
Prophet Incorporated first began as a small website developed by then fourteen year old Heather Lawver. Left immobile whilst fighting a debilitating bone infection in her left foot, Ms Lawver searched for something worthwhile to occupy her time. She had just recently read J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone' and was intrigued by the way a single book had sparked a voracious appetite for reading in a generation so accustomed to playing video games and watching television. While the rest of the world was satisfied with the idea that children were suddenly excited to read again, Ms Lawver thought there might be an opportunity to take that excitement farther, to develop it into something bigger.
Witnessing the vast array of content that so many children, teenagers, and even adults had created online in dedication to their new favorite book, Ms Lawver's own imagination was sparked. As she reread the book, she latched onto one particular detail inside the magical world of Harry Potter. It was the wizarding newspaper known as 'The Daily Prophet.'
That excitement, imagination, and desire to expand upon that newfound love of reading, Ms Lawver developed her own 'Daily Prophet' online. The website was built around the premise that perhaps a love of reading could be turned into a love for English & Creative Writing. In her own experience growing up, she found that her appreciation for the written word flourished when she dove into it, attempting to express her own thoughts through creative writing. Reading comprehension became so much more familiar, personal, and understandable when she began to grasp the fundamentals of writing.
This theory developed into an online faux newspaper for children, based in the imaginative world of Rowling's 'Potter' books. There children could volunteer to become columnists, where in a solid foundation of a world populated by characters they were familiar with, they could report on the fictional happenings created by their imaginations and fueled by the world of Harry Potter. Knowing that everything they wrote would be read by an audience of fellow fans, each child knew that what they were writing would be received, reviewed, and read by their peers. This environment where their successes would be known to others encouraged them to develop their communication skills - not just because an authority figure told them to, but because they wanted to. What was once work became play.
In this collaborative creative environment, run for fans by fans, children often forgot that they were in the process of learning a valuable skill. But 'The Daily Prophet' wasn't just about teaching children how to write - it soon developed into so much more. As more and more children volunteered, eager to dive into their favorite mytical world, Ms Lawver had to develop a more professional managerial system to ensure that each child received the care and tutelage they deserved. This would be a daunting task for anyone, let alone a teenager tasked with managing and caring for fellow teenagers. With a staff that was often comprised of well over one hundred individuals at any given time, Ms Lawver came to realize the potential for another aspect to the educational benefits of this online newspaper educational system. What could have been a daunting problem became an opportunity for growth.
Soon 'The Daily Prophet' focused on also teaching children the valuable life skill of knowing how to function and perform in a professional working environment. Children who volunteered were expected to meet deadlines, answer to a boss, respond to criticism in a mature and constructive manner, and to work professionally with others. While these kids played in a world of fantasy, they gained experience and knowledge that would prepare them for life in the "real world."
'The Daily Prophet' has since tutored and mentored over four hundred children worldwide in English, Creative Writing, Reading Comprehension, and just life in general. How to work, to be responsible, accountable, trustworthy, hard working, and dedicated; how to live. And all the while, the only thing these children were aware of, was that they were having fun.
This educational environment also proved to be surprisingly and unexpectedly effective in teaching English as a second language, as a form of artistic therapy for foster children as well as those who were neglected or abused, and as a great tool for educators of the physically and mentally handicapped.
Through her work with 'The Daily Prophet', Ms Lawver was keenly aware of the sub-culture that had grown up around the Harry Potter books, and the events that developed because of it. In December of 2000, Ms Lawver received distressing news from a close friend and columnist with the Prophet. Lindsay, then twelve years old, had received a threatening letter from the legal department at Warner Brothers - the intellectual property owners of the Potter franchise - threatening her with legal action if she did not immediately shut down her innocuous Harry Pottern fan site, www.BestHogwarts.com. The letter was particularly rude and excessive, stating that J.K. Rowling was personally upset with Lindsay for violating her trademarks, copyrights, and intellectual property - something no fan wants to hear about their idol. She came to Ms Lawver in tears, afraid that she would be hauled to court and that her family would be in trouble, all cause she ran a simple fan site.
Lindsay was not using any copyrighted material, was not profiting in any way from her site, and was doing nothing but providing free publicity and word of mouth for the 'Potter' series. Growing up as a fan of many parody artists, Ms Lawver had a basic understanding of the spirit parody law and knew that Lindsay was well within her rights, had not violated any of Rowling's or Warner Brother's intellectual property, and was reasonably well protected by parody law. Incensed at the very idea that Warner Brothers would send such intimidating threatening letters to children, Ms Lawver started talking to every contact she knew in the Harry Potter world to find out just how far and wide these letters were being sent.
She soon discovered that for several months, Warners' legal departments both in the United States and Great Britain had been sending similar letters to innocent adolescent fan site owners as young as eleven years old worldwide. Their efforts were first directed toward children in Poland, Singapore, Malaysia, and other countries spread out between Europe and Asia. But soon these insidious letters were showing up on the doorsteps of unsuspecting fans in small towns throughout England, Canada, and the United States. Indeed, Warner was even making good on their threats by initiating legal action against a young girl in Ipswich, England, Ms Claire Field, who had refused to bow down to the pressure being levied against her for simply operating an innocent fan site.
Appalled at the lengths this multinational company had gone to just to scare the living daylights out of children for the sake of a few fan sites, Ms Lawver decided to take action. She teamed up with London City Councilman Alastair Alexander and together they formed the PotterWar campaign.
On February 22, 2001, PotterWar was launched. The fans rallied together to send a message to Warner Brothers that they would not allow their rights to be trampled on for a quick buck. Ms Lawver and Mr Alexander decided to hit Warner where it would do the most damage - their bottom line. They encouraged fans worldwide to boycott anything and everything related to the imminent release of the first of the Harry Potter motion pictures. Toys, school supplies, knick knacks, even movie tickets, all of it was off-limits. The only exception: the books themselves.
At first, the efforts of thousands of children worldwide went unnoticed by the executives at Warner Brothers. But the media had a field day with the news. The PotterWar campaign was featured prominently in the publications and television programs of countless news organizations worldwide, including USA Today, The London Daily Mail, The BBC, The Washington Times, MSNBC, CBC This Morning, The Ottawa Gazette, The Guardian, BBC Brazil, and countless local news affiliates and newspapers from Singapore, France, Germany, Argentina, Malaysia, Australia, The United States, and others.
Soon Warner Brothers was forced to take notice as the public rallied for a response. Warner Brothers Senior VP Diane Nelson was responsible for resolving "The PotterWar Problem", and she soon appeared on MSNBC's Hardball to debate live with then sixteen year old Heather Lawver. From then on, negotiations proceeded between Warner Brothers and PotterWar, ultimately leading to the first victory of a fan organization fighting for fan's rights on the Internet. After six months, several million dollars in profits lost, and the closure of Warner Brothers Studio Stores, Warner finally conceded defeat. All legal action against Claire Field was ceased immediately, threats were rescinded, sites were returned to their rightful owners, and their practice of sending heavy-handed legal threats to children ended.
When PotterWar began, the law lagged behind technology. Nothing really applied to the Internet; everything was legally subjective. After PotterWar, the foundation was laid and precedent was set for an entirely new attitude, approach, and application of trademark, copyright, and intellectual property law as it relates to our brave new world of technology and new media. Additionally, it established a new order among Hollywood studios, their legal departments, and their relationships with fans who wish to participate in the culture presented to them. An entire sub-culture of open creativity and expression was allowed to flourish, free from the fear of legal action.
The long term legal, ethical, and business implications of the PotterWar campaign have been reviewed and applauded by some of the finest minds in academia today. Dr Henry Jenkins, founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Comparative Media Studies dedicated an entire chapter of his latest book, "Convergence Culture", to the impact of PotterWar - and The Daily Prophet - on the merging of old media with a new environment of participatory culture. Additionally, Ms Lawver has been interviewed by Lawrence Lessig, a world renowned professor at Stanford Law and founder of the Creative Commons, for the inclusion of Ms Lawver's work and personal approach to law and its applications in new media in Mr Lessig's curriculum at Stanford Law.
Prophet Incorporated is just beginning. We've been around less than a decade, and already we have fought to improve the quality of life of our children worldwide, protected their rights to express themselves openly without fear of intimidation, and encouraged the development of new forms of arts education. We've already accomplished so much for so many, and believe us when we say, we're just getting warmed up.
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