Reuters reports that J K Rowling and Warner Bros are suing an independent US publisher over an unofficial encyclopedic companion to the Harry Potter series, as it infringes copyright and attempts to cash in on the brand.
The target is The Harry Potter Lexicon, which is due to be released by RDR Books on 28th November in the United States. The 400-page book is based on a Steve Vander Arks' fan Web site, www.hp-lexicon.org, that was used by 25 million visitors and had been called "a great site" by Rowling herself.
Rowling said in a statement, even though she loved fan sites, she hoped to write "the definitive Harry Potter encyclopedia, which will include all the material that never made it into the novels" and donate the proceeds to charity.
The outcome of the case is of importance to writers, as currently there are a lot of books that piggyback on other works, usually feeling that adding a label such as "an unauhorized guide to..." will keep the lawyers at bay.
By the way, in a separate story, Rowling has made seven copies of a fairy tale collection that was mentioned in her last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She will auction one for charity and give away the six others. She said the books were a "wonderful way" to say goodbye to Potter. But the lawsuit suggests she's not really ready to say good-bye.
