Just yesterday, the author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, won her claim that a fan violated her copyright with his plans to publish a reader's companion or Potter encyclopedia. Jude patterson in Federal District Court said that Ms. Rowling pproved that "Harry Potter Lexicon" would cause her ireperable harm as a writer, and permanently blocked publication of the reference guide.
Last year Rowling sued RDL Books to stop publication of material from the Harry Potter Lexicon Web sit. The site was run by Mr. Vander Ark, and served as a guide to the seven Potter books. In his ruling, the Judge said that reference materials were generally useful to the public, but that in this case, Mr. Vander Ark went too far, and that it was not "fair use." Ms. Rowling testified earlier this year that the lexicon was principally a rearrangement of her material, not just a reference guide.
This news is covered in today's New York Times, and probably many other daily papers.
Christy Beckmann
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2 comments:
I wonder if J. K. Rowling could ever be irreparably damaged financially by a single book since she is the most wealthy woman in the UK. She might want to follow the lead of George Lucas who is extremely liberal in allowing the use of his Star Wars characters by other media. A case in point, though not my personal taste, is his liberality to Family Guy in spoofing his characters and even allowing them to product a recent film.
Was this ruling in the UK or the US?
And, would this Potter encyclopedia be considered a derivative work?
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