The creator of the world of witches is now at the receiving end of a spell that has been cast upon her intellectual property rights. J.K. Rowling bewailed the publication of an encyclopedia by a "former fan" based on the Harry Potter bestseller series that have sold 400 million copies worldwide. Arguing that the Harry Potter Lexicon is a rip off for financial gain that will unduly exploit her, she has taken legal action against Steve Vander Ark and the publisher, RDR books.
Lawyers for the publisher countered that the encyclopedia is a legitimate literary
activity, like a reference book, or a guide to literature, that is a long recognized genre. The lawyers are stretching their argument too thinly and without legal grounding. Using the creations of a writer without permission or expressed approval is in itself a violation; to sell the finished product for obvious profitable gain makes it even worse. The enthusiasm and earnest devotion of a fan has been corrupted for capitalist exploitation and greed, and the former fan will now receive his comeuppance from a woman scorned; like no hell he has ever experienced nor read in any of the Harry Potter books he so dearly loves. He may eternally regret entering the Chamber of Secrets..
The bewitched Hogwarts fan now faces the predicament of being the Prisoner of Azkaban and losing all connections to the witch's world he has been so much attached to, as well as to the real world where he could lose his pants in the process. And the master creator of all this sorcery will let him drink from the Goblet of Fire, before sending him off to the Deathly Hallows; then entomb him in a spell cast and carved in the Sorcerer's Stone.
Haaarrrrwwwk...Twoooooph...Ting!
Lawyers for the publisher countered that the encyclopedia is a legitimate literary
activity, like a reference book, or a guide to literature, that is a long recognized genre. The lawyers are stretching their argument too thinly and without legal grounding. Using the creations of a writer without permission or expressed approval is in itself a violation; to sell the finished product for obvious profitable gain makes it even worse. The enthusiasm and earnest devotion of a fan has been corrupted for capitalist exploitation and greed, and the former fan will now receive his comeuppance from a woman scorned; like no hell he has ever experienced nor read in any of the Harry Potter books he so dearly loves. He may eternally regret entering the Chamber of Secrets..
The bewitched Hogwarts fan now faces the predicament of being the Prisoner of Azkaban and losing all connections to the witch's world he has been so much attached to, as well as to the real world where he could lose his pants in the process. And the master creator of all this sorcery will let him drink from the Goblet of Fire, before sending him off to the Deathly Hallows; then entomb him in a spell cast and carved in the Sorcerer's Stone.Haaarrrrwwwk...Twoooooph...Ting!
