[cperciva]

Copyright law doesn't care about whether this is "monetizing" or not. He's infringing simply by using JK Rowling's characters; he's safe only thanks to JK Rowling saying that she doesn't mind HP fanfiction as long as it's not obscene and non-commercial.

So the only real question here is: What does JK Rowling think of this?

[aw3c2]

She supports fanfiction but it has to be non-commercial. See eg http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3753001.stm

[cperciva]

Sure. My point is, this is all based on her whims, not on any legal definitions. So "non-commercial" in this context just means whatever JK Rowling wants it to mean in this context.

[mcherm]

Given that it's raising money for a charities, and that the donations only accelerate the publication rate, I would be surprised to see Rowling object when she hasn't objected to previous chapters.