Rowling wins Potter copyright case
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has won her case in a New York court against the publication of an encyclopedia based on her creation.
In their defence, RDR Books, publishers of The Harry Potter Lexicon by Stephen Vander Ark, claimed that it was a legitimate work of reference but, as AP reports, Judge Robert P. Patterson did not accept the argument, ruling that the "Lexicon appropriates too much of Rowling's creative work for its purposes as a reference guide".
However, he did qualify the judgement, saying: ""While the Lexicon, in its current state, is not a fair use of the Harry Potter works, reference works that share the Lexicon's purpose of aiding readers of literature generally should be encouraged rather than stifled."
As BBC News reports, J.K. Rowling was pleased by the court's decision. "The proposed book took an enormous amount of my work and added virtually no original commentary of its own," she said in a statement.
"Many books have been published which offer original insights into the world of Harry Potter. The Lexicon just is not one of them."
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