Rowling shred fan's wizard words

A New York judge has quashed a Harry Potter fan's bid to publish an encyclopedia based on J K Rowling's phenomenally lucrative boy wizard.

Judge Robert Patterson of the Manhattan District Court said in an opinion that US publisher RDR Books would violate copyright by publishing Steve Vander Ark's Harry Potter Lexicon.

The ruling was that RDR Books "failed to establish an affirmative defense of fair use" after a lawsuit brought by Rowling and Warner Brothers Entertainment.

Patterson awarded damages of US$6,750 (HK$52,650) to Warner and to Rowling, said by Forbes magazine to be the richest author on Earth thanks to the magical success of her bespectacled hero.

Rowling declared herself "delighted" but insisted that she took "no pleasure at all" in seeing off her over-ambitious fan.

Michigan-based RDR Books, which described the case on its website as a "David and Goliath" struggle, said it was "obviously disappointed" and was "considering all of its options."

Rowling almost broke down in court in April as she told of her shock at seeing Harry Potter and his fellow sorcerers appear in someone else's book. "It was all my life, apart from my children," she said.

Vander Ark was motivated only by his love of the series, which he had read many times over, according to his lawyer.

But Rowling said that she had planned her own reference guide to the stories, which have sold almost 350 million copies in some 65 languages and spawned a series of films.

Many books offer original insights into the world of Harry Potter, she said, but the Lexicon "just is not one of them."

The Standard