Lexicon owner "talked into doing it by the publishing company"
April 15, 2008 at 2:20 PM ET
Geri
HPANA (via USA Today)
jk rowling, jkr, jo rowling, harry potter author, hp author, warners bros, rdr books, steve vander ark
To add to our previous post on the court case currently taking place in New York between Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. and RDR Books, comes news
that the author of the book in question told the court that "he was talked into doing it by the publishing company" and that "it's been difficult because there has been a lot of criticism, obviously, and that was never the intention."
The case, which aims to permanently prevent publication of the Harry Potter Lexicon, which Mr. Steve Vander Ark and RDR Books had sought to publish last fall, should continue for the rest of the week before Judge Robert P. Patterson.
More coverage from today's events can be found here.
UPDATE: MTV has posted a great description as to what this case is really about - what is basis for doctrine of fair use.
UPDAATE II: A statement was issued this evening about today's events:
A fan's affectionate enthusiasm should not obscure acts of plagiarism. The publishers knew what they were doing. The problem remains that the Lexicon takes an enormous amount of Ms. Rowling's work and adds virtually no original commentary of its own. As we've said in court, it takes too much and adds too little. Authors have a duty to prevent the exploitation of their works by people who contribute nothing original, creative or interpretive.
UPDATE III: You can read additional information from today's testimony here courtesy of TLC.