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J.K. Rowling Sues Fan for ‘Betrayal’
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Rowling and Warner Brothers are suing RDR Books to halt publication of an unauthorized Harry Potter encyclopedia written by the author of a popular fan site.
30-Second Summary
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, is in U.S. District Court pursuing a lawsuit against RDR Books, publishers of an unauthorized companion encyclopedia to the series.
“The Harry Potter Lexicon” was written by Steven Vander Ark, a teacher and librarian who has spent the last few years creating a comprehensive Harry Potter fan site of the same name.
Vander Ark was contacted by RDR Books after the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the final installment of J.K. Rowling’s series. RDR books assured him that publishing the lexicon would not violate copyright law, Vander Ark claimed in court.
Although Rowling previously praised the Web site, she considers the print encyclopedia “an act of betrayal.” According to the Associated Press, Rowling told the court on Monday, “This book constitutes wholesale theft of 17 years of my hard work.”
Rowling and Warner Brothers (which owns the copyright and trademarks of the Harry Potter series) are suing RDR books over the legality of Vander Ark’s lexicon. Dale Cendali, a lawyer at Warner Brothers, claims, “This is a case about the massive wholesale copying.”
Vander Ark’s lawyers hope to prove to the court that the 400-page “Harry Potter Lexicon” serves an educational purpose and does not conflict with the sale of Rowling’s novels.
“The Harry Potter Lexicon” was written by Steven Vander Ark, a teacher and librarian who has spent the last few years creating a comprehensive Harry Potter fan site of the same name.
Vander Ark was contacted by RDR Books after the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the final installment of J.K. Rowling’s series. RDR books assured him that publishing the lexicon would not violate copyright law, Vander Ark claimed in court.
Although Rowling previously praised the Web site, she considers the print encyclopedia “an act of betrayal.” According to the Associated Press, Rowling told the court on Monday, “This book constitutes wholesale theft of 17 years of my hard work.”
Rowling and Warner Brothers (which owns the copyright and trademarks of the Harry Potter series) are suing RDR books over the legality of Vander Ark’s lexicon. Dale Cendali, a lawyer at Warner Brothers, claims, “This is a case about the massive wholesale copying.”
Vander Ark’s lawyers hope to prove to the court that the 400-page “Harry Potter Lexicon” serves an educational purpose and does not conflict with the sale of Rowling’s novels.
Headline Link: ‘Wholesale theft’
Author J.K. Rowling is in court attempting to suppress the publication of an unauthorized Harry Potter encyclopedia. According to the Associated Press, Rowling stated, “I believe that it is sloppy, lazy and that it takes my work wholesale, verbatim. This book constitutes wholesale theft of 17 years of my hard work.” Rowling had intended to create her own Harry Potter encyclopedia, but says that she may no longer have “the will or the heart” to produce her own work.
Source: The New York Times [Associated Press]
Reactions: Rowling and Warner Brothers vs. Vander Ark and RDR
The lawsuit Rowling and Warner Brothers filed in October seeks to “stop publication and requests damages for copyright and federal trademark infringement and any profits to be gained” Reuters reports. Dale Cendali, who represents Rowling and Warner Brothers, said in her opening remarks, “The lexicon is drawn almost entirely from Ms. Rowling's work." Anthony Falzone, a lawyer for RDR Books, countered, “The lexicon is not a plausible substitute for any of the Harry Potter novels. It's simply not plausible to argue that Ms. Rowling's sales will be hurt in any meaningful way."
Source: Reuters
In 2007, Rowling reacted to an earlier court decision that ordered RDR to halt work on the book. She writes on her Web site, “I feel massively disappointed that this matter had to come to court….Given my past good relations with the Lexicon fansite, I can only feel sad and disillusioned that this is where we have to end up.”
Source: J.K. Rowling official site
Background: Rowling’s own encyclopedia plans
In a 2007 interview with Meredith Viera on MSNBC’s Today Show, J.K. Rowling announced plans to create an encyclopedia to the Harry Potter series. According to Rowling, the encyclopedia would include background information on the characters and events in the series, as well as new material that was not released in the books. In the interview, Rowling told Viera, “I’m not going to do it tomorrow because I’d really like a break…So you may be waiting.”
Source: MSNBC
Key Players:
J.K. Rowling
Joanne “J.K.” Rowling is the author of the Harry Potter series, beloved by millions of fans, and which inspired an entire industry of books, movies and merchandise. According to a h2g2 profile hosted by the BBC, Rowling admitted that “Harry just strolled into my head fully formed.” Rowling wrote the first book when she was a single mother living in a “grotty and depressing” apartment in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Source: h2g2
Steven Vander Ark
A former middle-school librarian, Steven Vander Ark has spent years indexing Harry Potter information for fans on his Web site, the Harry Potter Lexicon. Weeping as he testified on April 15, he claimed that RDR dismissed his concerns that a print version of the lexicon would infringe Rowling’s copyright.
Source: MSNBC
Reference Links: Harry Potter Lexicon
Vander Ark’s Harry Potter Lexicon is an online encyclopedia that includes detailed explanations of the Muggle world and the Wizarding world, and provides timelines to help readers contextualize Harry Potter’s story.
Source: The Harry Potter Lexicon
RDR Books advertises the print version of the Lexicon with a quote from J.K. Rowling, praising the Lexicon Web site: “This is such a great site that I have been known to sneak into an internet cafe while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of Harry Potter (which is embarrassing). A website for the dangerously obsessive; my natural home."
Source: RDR Books
Related Topics: Rowling sued by author of “Larry Potter”
In 2002, J.K. Rowling was sued by children’s book author Nancy Stouffer for allegedly borrowing content from Stouffer’s children’s books. After Stouffer lost her suit, the judge ordered her to pay Rowling’s legal fees and fined her an additional $50,000 for submitted fraudulent evidence.
Source: Law.com
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