Online encyclopedia of the Harry Potter series
The Harry Potter Lexicon
is a fan-created online
encyclopedia
of the
Harry Potter
series.
Overview
[
edit
]
The site was created by school librarian Steve Vander Ark. It contains detailed information for all seven published
Harry Potter
books. The Lexicon lists
characters
,
places
,
creatures
, spells, potions and
magical devices
, as well as analyzing
magical
theory and other details of the series. The Lexicon is credited as creating one of the first timelines of all events occurring in the
Harry Potter
universe. A similar timeline of events was adopted by
Warner Bros.
for inclusion with their
Harry Potter
film
DVDs, and was accepted by author
J. K. Rowling
as conforming to her works.
The Lexicon is a winner of J. K. Rowling's Fan Site Award. Rowling said:
[1]
This is such a great site that I have been known to sneak into an
internet cafe
while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of Harry Potter (which is embarrassing). A website for the dangerously obsessive; my natural home.
Lawsuit
[
edit
]
On October 31, 2007, J.K. Rowling and
Warner Brothers
filed a lawsuit against RDR Books over the publication of Vander Ark's Lexicon in book form.
[2]
[3]
[4]
The lawsuit was heard in a
New York
court on April 14, 2008.
[5]
[6]
The lawsuit states:
The infringing book is particularly troubling as it is in direct contravention to Ms. Rowling's repeatedly stated intention to publish her own companion books to the series.
[7]
The result of the lawsuit was that the book could be published, but not in its present form. A modified version of the book was published in 2009.
This case went to
bench trial
in the New York Federal District Court of Judge Robert Patterson on April 14, 2008. RDR Books’ defense team, which includes solo San Francisco practitioner, Lizbeth Hasse of the Creative Industry Law Group, solo New York practitioner David Hammer, and the
Fair Use Project
at
Stanford University Law School
, has replied to the suit, arguing:
In support of her position Ms Rowling appears to claim a monopoly on the right to publish literary reference guides, and other non-academic research, relating to her own fiction. This is a right no court has ever recognized. It has little to recommend it. If accepted, it would dramatically extend the reach of copyright protection, and eliminate an entire genre of literary supplements: third party reference guides to fiction, which for centuries have helped readers better access, understand and enjoy literary works.
[8]
Rowling stated that her efforts to halt the publishing of the Lexicon have been crushing her creativity, and said that she was not sure if she has "the will or the heart" to now publish her own encyclopedia.
[9]
On 8 September 2008, Rowling won her copyright case against RDR Books.
[10]
Lexicon publisher RDR Books said:
We are encouraged by the fact the court recognized that as a general matter authors do not have the right to stop the publication of reference guides and companion books about literary works. As for the Lexicon, we are obviously disappointed with the result, and RDR is considering all of its options.
Publication
[
edit
]
In December, 2008, a modified (and shorter) version of Vander Ark's Lexicon was approved for publication and was released January 16, 2009 as
The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction
.
[11]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
J. K. Rowling
.
"J.K.Rowling Official Site - Section: Fan Sites - The Harry Potter Lexicon"
. JKRowling.com. Archived from
the original
on 2006-03-16.
- ^
"Rowling suing fan over new Potter book"
.
CNN
. April 14, 2008. Archived from
the original
on April 15, 2008
. Retrieved
April 15,
2008
.
- ^
Neumeister, Larry (February 29, 2008).
"JK Rowling Bashes 'Harry Potter Lexicon'
"
. Associated Press. Archived from
the original
on March 5, 2008.
- ^
Crace, John (March 11, 2008).
"Harry Potter: the last battle"
.
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
May 25,
2010
.
- ^
"JK Rowling sues to block fan site's Harry Potter book"
. Out-law.com. March 18, 2008.
- ^
"Copy of Complaint"
(PDF)
. October 31, 2007. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2018-12-29.
- ^
Kearney, Christine (October 31, 2007).
"Rowling, Warner Bros. sue over Potter book"
.
Reuters
.
- ^
Falzone, Anthony (February 10, 2008).
"RDR Files Opposition To Rowling's Preliminary Injunction Motion"
.
Stanford Law School
.
- ^
"Rowling testifies in Potter case"
.
BBC News
. April 14, 2008.
- ^
"JK Rowling Wins Copyright Claim"
. Sky News. September 9, 2008.
- ^
The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction and Related Materials
.
ASIN
1571431748
.
External links
[
edit
]