JK Rowling "Exploited" by Planned Harry Potter Encyclopedia

JK Rowling "Exploited" by Planned Harry Potter Encyclopedia 2/29/08

J.K. Rowling feels '"exploited" over the planned publication of an unofficial Harry Potter encyclopedia.

The author and Warner Brothers, which owns the rights to the boy wizard books, filed a lawsuit against publisher RDR Books in October (07) over The Harry Potter Lexicon, based on fan Steve Vander Ark's website of the same name.

The book was due for publication in November last year (07).

In a declaration filed in the U.S. District Court in New York on Thursday (28Feb08), she says, "I am very frustrated that a former fan has tried to co-opt my work for financial gain.

"I believe that RDR's book constitutes a Harry Potter 'rip off' of the type I have spent years trying to prevent, and that both I, as the creator of this world, and fans of Harry Potter, would be exploited by its publication.

"I feel intensely protective, firstly, of the literary world I spent so long creating, and secondly, of the fans who bought my books in such large numbers."

The suit seeks to stop publication of the tome and requests damages for copyright and federal trademark infringement and any profits to be gained from the work. RDR and Vander Ark argue the 400-page book would promote sales of Rowling's work.

Rowling herself insists she plans to write her own definitive Harry Potter encyclopedia - including previously unseen material - and will donate the proceeds to charity.

Speaking last year (07) , Rowling told of her disappointment over the fact that she had been forced to take legal action over the planned publication of The Harry Potter Lexicon.

She said, "On the contrary, I feel massively disappointed that this matter had to come to court at all. Given my past good relations with the Lexicon fan site, I can only feel sad and disillusioned that this is where we have ended up."