News

« Headlines

J K Rowling wins book copyright claim

J K Rowling has won her court case in New York to get an unofficial Harry Potter tie-in banned from publication. The BBC reports that judge Robert Patterson ruled that Rowling had proven Steven Vander Ark's Harry Potter Lexicon would cause her irreparable harm as a writer.

Vander Ark wrote the book after running a popular Potter fansite. Rowling sued Michigan based publishers RDR Books last year to stop publication of the book.

Independent publisher Methuen has been hoping to release a UK edition of The Harry Potter Lexicon in April, but was forced to postpone it because of the court case.

Following the ruling, Rowling said her legal action had aimed "to uphold the right of authors everywhere to protect their own original work". "The proposed book took an enormous amount of my work and added virtually no original commentary of its own," she said.

The statement added: "Many books have been published which offer original insights into the world of Harry Potter. The Lexicon just is not one of them."

BBC News

Add comment

By posting on this website you agree to the Bookseller Comments Policy. Comments go direct to live, please be relevant, brief and definitely not abusive. Report any "unsuitable" comments by clicking the links.

Name

Comment

Email

See Also