Rowling's Olive Branch Conjures Little Magic in Potter Lexicon Trial

The author of the popular Harry Potter series, J K Rowling, unusually for her, made a public appearance, on Monday April 14, 2008 when she took the witness stand in a Manhattan federal courtroom. Ms Rowling and Warner Brothers Entertainment, producers of the Harry Potter films, are suing RDR Books, a small Michigan–based publisher, to halt the publication of Steven Vander Ark's "Harry Potter Lexicon," an encyclopedia based on Mr. Vander Ark's popular Web site of the same name. Rowling and Warner Brothers Entertainment argued that the proposed encyclopedia is copyright infringement and is an alphabetical form of plagiarism. What Ms Rowling denounced as plagiarism, the publisher defended as literary scholarship, as well as an invaluable reference tool for Harry Potter readers. The trial drew to a close with Rowling extending an olive-branch to Mr. Vander Ark in her testimony as a rebuttal witness: "I never ever once wanted to stop Mr. Vander Ark from doing his own guide "” never ever." …"Do your book [Mr. Vander Ark,], but please, change it so it does not take as much of my work." Despite Rowling's conciliatory words, those words have yet to "cast a happy-ending spell on the proceedings." The trial ended on Wednesday April 16, 2008, but the judge has given the lawyers three weeks to file additional materials before he makes a decision. For the text of the news article see: http://tinyurl.com/6fl3fk Summary by: Abigail Browne