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Court Rules Against Harry Potter Dictionary

The author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling, and the producer of the films based upon her books, Warner Bros. Entertainment, have successfully sued a small publisher based in Muskegon, Michigan to stop the publication of a Harry Potter lexicon. The judge in the case ruled that the book went too far in quoting the Harry Potter books and referring to guides by Rowling, in violation of copyright laws.

Rowling and Warner Bros. were also awarded $6,750 in statutory damages. However, the defendant publisher expressed pleasure with the court’s recognition that copyright holders do not have the right to stop the publication of reference guides and companion books about literary works. The lexicon’s main author, Steven Vander Ark, claims to still be a Potter and Rowling fan. Vander Ark remains undeterred in plans to publish a travel memoir called “In Search of Harry Potter”, detailing his UK journeys in search of places that reminded him of scenes from the Potter books.

Source: http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=607&docId=l:l:848521851&topicId=12722&source=undefined&start=3&topics=single

Tags: Harry Potter, lexicon, Rowling, Warner Bros.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 2:36 pm and is filed under Copyright Infringement, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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