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I think there are two seperate questions here:
1) Does this index fall under fair use?
2) Having "waived" her rights to this material being available for free on the web, can Rowling object to this material being available at cost in bookstores?
IANAL, so I can't answer either question from a legal perspective. From an ethical perspective (yes, there is an ethical arguement for fair use), I believe that the excerpt Farhad included in his post falls under fair use; everything but the plot synopsis is definitely fair use, and the plot synopsis is probably fair use.
That's a very different question, though, from the second. I'd be very concerned about forcing media companies to waive either all their rights or none at any given time. If a judge were to rule that this book doesn't fall under fair use, but since Rowling didn't object when the material first appeared on the web she no longer has any right to object to its publication we're likely to see media companies being a lot more tight-fisted with their material -- even more so than they are now!
Farhad, your first blog entry dealt entirely with the second question, and I found your arguement unpersuasive and dangerous to fans. Your second blog entry, though, about fair use, is much more convincing.
