Rowling testifies in federal court
NEW YORK (AP) - April 14, 2008 Rowling said she has stopped work on a new novel because the
lawsuit in federal court has "decimated my creative work over the
last month."
Rowling is suing RDR Books to stop publication of Steven Vander
Ark's "Harry Potter Lexicon." She says her copyrights are being
violated.
"This book constitutes wholesale theft of 17 years of my hard
work," she testified Monday.
RDR's lawyer, Anthony Falzone, defended the lexicon as a
reference guide. Falzone calls it a legal effort "to organize and
discuss the complicated and very elaborate world of Harry Potter."
When Dale Cendali, Rowling's lawyer, asked how she felt about
Harry, she replied: "I really don't want to cry."
Rowling brought the lawsuit against Vander Ark's publisher last
year.
The legal showdown could last most of the week. Rowling will
spend her breaks in the seclusion of a jury room - away from any
die-hard Potter fans.
The trial in U.S. District Court comes eight months after
Rowling published her seventh and final book in the series. The
books have been published in 64 languages, sold more than 400
million copies and produced a film franchise that has pulled in
$4.5 billion at the worldwide box office.
Rowling is a fan of the Harry Potter Lexicon Web site that
Vander Ark runs. But she draws the line when it comes to publishing
the book and charging $24.95. She also says it fails to include any
of the commentary and discussion that enrich the Web site and calls
it "nothing more than a rearrangement" of her own material.
One of her lawyers, Dan Shallman, on Friday told Judge Robert P.
Patterson, who is hearing the trial without a jury, that Rowling
"feels like her words were stolen."
He said the author felt so personally violated that she made her
own comparisons among her seven best-selling novels and the lexicon
and was ready to testify about the similarities in dozens of
instances.
David Saul Hammer, a lawyer for RDR Books, which plans to sell
the lexicon, said the publisher will not challenge the claim by
Rowling that much of the material in the lexicon infringed her
copyrights.
But the judge will decide whether the use of the material by the
small Muskegon, Mich., publisher was legal because it was used for
some greater purpose, such as a scholarly pursuit.
In court papers filed before the trial, Rowling said she was
"deeply troubled" by the book.
"If RDR's position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a
significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine
fans on the Internet," she said. "Authors everywhere will be
forced to protect their creations much more rigorously, which could
mean denying well-meaning fans permission to pursue legitimate
creative activities."
In court papers, Vander Ark, 50, said he was a teacher and
school librarian in Byron Center, Mich., before recently moving to
London to begin a career as a writer.
He said he joined an adult online discussion group devoted to
the "Harry Potter" books in 1999 before launching his own Web
site as a hobby a year later. Since then, neither Rowling nor her
publisher had ever complained about anything on it, he said.
In May 2004, he said, Rowling mentioned his Web site on her own,
writing, "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 Web site for the dangerously obsessive;
my natural home."
The Web site attracts about 1.5 million page views per month and
contributions from people all over the world, Vander Ark said.
He said he initially declined proposals to convert the Web site
into an encyclopedia, in part because he believed until last August
that in book form, it would represent a copyright violation.
After Rowling released the final chapter in the "Harry Potter"
series that month, Vander Ark was contacted by an RDR Books
employee, who told him that publication of the lexicon would not
violate copyright law, he said.
Still, to protect himself, Vander Ark said he insisted that RDR
Books include a clause in his contract that the publisher would
defend and pay any damages that might result from claims against
him.
He said it was decided that the lexicon would include sections
from the Lexicon Web site that give descriptions and commentary on
individual names, places, spells and creatures from Harry Potter
stories.
In his court statement, Vander Ark still sounds like a fan,
saying the lexicon "enhances the pleasure of readers of the Potter
novels, and deepens their appreciation of Ms. Rowling's
achievement."
But the affection no longer seems a shared experience.
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On the Net:
The Harry Potter Lexicon:
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/
J.K.Rowling:
http://www.jkrowling.com/