Iconic Films

2 for 1 tickets to Singin' In The Rain, this coming Monday. Book now

Navigation - link to other main sections from here

Skip Navigation

From Times Online
April 17, 2008

JK Rowling tells court of her Harry Potter copyright fears

JK Rowling leaves the US District Court in New York

Alexi Mostrous

JK Rowling has warned that “the floodgates will open” on unauthorised versions of her books if a judge allows the publication of a Harry Potter encyclopaedia.

The British author was testifying at the Manhattan federal court, which she is asking to block publication of The Harry Potter Lexicon, a guide to the characters, places and spells in her novels.

Returning to the witness stand on the last day of a three day trial, Ms Rowling said: “I believe the floodgates will open. Are we the owners of our own work?”

The offending reference guide was written by Steven Vander Ark, a 50-year-old former middle school librarian who compiled the material from a website by the same name that he had been operating for years.

Related Links

RDR Books, the small publisher that persuaded Mr Vander Ark to put material from the website into print, has argued that it is no different than any other reference guide and should be allowed to go to press without interference.

Ms Rowling said she was “vehemently anti-censorship" and generally supportive of the right of other authors to write books about her novels. But she said Mr Vander Ark had “plundered her prose and merely reprinted it in an A-to-Z format”.

In a statement, the multi-millionaire author said that the book had overstepped a boundary.

“Authors have a right to protect their works from misuse. Do I have fewer rights because many people read my books? If this book is published, it will open the floodgates for anyone to lift an author’s work and present it as their own.”

Robert Patterson Jr, the US district judge, asked Rowling whether she thought anyone would read the lexicon and its list of facts about the wizarding world for entertainment value.

“Honestly, no,” Rowling said. The good parts, she said, have simply been lifted from her own work.

“I think there are funny things in there, and I wrote them,” she said.

A decision in the case is not expected soon. It will be weeks before lawyers finish filing legal documents, and possibly longer before a verdict is reached. Judge Patterson is deciding the case, rather than a jury.

Page 1 of 3

I think she is right in saying that she doesnt want this book, I mean, who in thwe right mind wants all main parts without all the little bits that make the main what they are. I have been reading since they came out, and I like what I have read. Having a person spoil it ruins the fun in reading it.

Dustyne McLean, Bonney Lake, Washington

Strangely it seems that pages 2 & 3 of this report have simply been lifted from page 1! Perhaps the author of page 1 could seek similar recourse against pages 2 & 3 and have them deleted. There are interesting sentences on pages 2 & 3....but they were written on page 1. This will open floodgates for dozens of pages to be added, all lifting the work from page 1.

La Tosca, Lucca, Tuscany

I am in league with June Moriarty, who is who is 2 comments under me. Good luck Ms. Rowling. The Harry Potter books were great. I hope the judge decides in your favor.It was her imagination and hers alone that made up her books. No one elses!!!!! As for the comment made by Blake in clemson who was the first to comment I am going to use my freedom of speech and say screw you! good vs. evil has been around longer than that. yeah the lotr books were weitten in i think '53 but it doesnt mean she took anything from them! so take your "lot of nerve" and go back to the whole in the ground u crawled out of! no body has a right to take away work done from ANY BODY ELSE!!!

Angel, Indiana, The great United States of America

The sharing of information is the foundation of our society, information should be made freely avaliable and understandable to all.
J.K. Rowling will come out of this getting some royalties from the book's sales which, from all this publicity she's generated, will be another nice sum on her £500something million fortune.

Either way this is US law, which I darn't even begin to read in after all the publicised idiotic cases which seem to come out in the press.

tom, munich,

J.K. Rowling has every right to be alarmed about the infringment on her rights. Today people think they have license to take any creative work and rework it into their own view of the property. Witness the music industry's wholesale theft by people who think once something is public it belongs to them.

Harry Potter and his magical world were brought into being by Ms. Rowling's fantastic imagination and her gifted abilities as a writer. It is hers and hers alone to do with as she wishes. I side Ms. Rowling and wish her well in her case.

June Moriarty, West Hills, CA, USA

I support Ms. Rowling, she deserves it.. Nobody has the right to take her hard work away from her.

chris, haren, netherlands

Ms. Rowling has a lot of nerve complaining of plagiarism when anyone can see in her Potter works that her philosophical concepts of Good vs Evil are lifted wholesale from the works of JRR Tolkein and CS Lewis, and her evil creatures are thinly veiled replicas of those found in The Lord of the Rings. If Rowling is succesful in her suit, the estate of Tolkein should engage a barrister.

blake, clemson, USA/SC

Has much as I would like to keep reading about Harry Potter and his world I don't thinks it's fear for people to take adventage of the fact the Harry is done in the eyes of Ms. Rowling and no book is going to be the same because she is the original and that alone adds the spice to the story. Mr. Ark needs to do his own stuff not try to build from hers.

I support Ms. Rowling.

maria, Elkhart, IN, USA

Have your say

* Required

Also in World News

Also in News

China earthquake

Residents flee the town of Beichuan

Latest images from the hardest-hit areas

Slide Show

Comment    

Times leader masthead

open quote mark The state media did not bury the story of the Sichuan earthquake, it broke it close quote mark

More...
Leading article

Audio gallery

Lowering the coffins of brothers Armando and Luis Carreon

Mexico's drug war

Just across the US border life is held very cheap

Pictures of the Week

World's most-pierced woman

A selection of the best images from around the world

Slide Show

Cyclone Nargis

A woman takes out rubbish from her home in Kawhmu village in southern Burma

Residents of the Irrawaddy delta struggle to recover from the cyclone

Slide Show

US elections

Barack Obama

White House 2008

Full coverage of the race for the US presidency

Comment Central

Condoleezza Rice

Could she be VP?

Our top ten picks for McCain's Vice Presidential candidate

    Paris weblog

    Strike

    Classroom wars

    45 per cent of French teachers go on strike again

    Most Read

    Skip Most Read

    Today

    MOST COMMENTED

    Skip Editor's Pick

    Today

    MOST CURIOUS

    Skip Most Curious

    Today

    Focus Zone

    Dr Zhivago

    Top 100 Films:

    Enjoy screenings of all the classic films you love, plus take advantage of two-for-one tickets

    horses

    Alternative Investments:

    Have you ever dreamed of owning your own racehorse or a beautiful painting?

    Toyota Auris

    Places & Spaces:

    Enjoy comfort, safety, space and great design. Plus enter our great competition

    Focus zone, pets, 100x100

    Perfect Pets:

    Times Online's new TV show helps you make the right decisions for your pet

    California

    Totally California:

    Are you California dreaming? Explore the wonders of the Golden State. Also enter our fantastic competition

    Nikon D40X camera

    Young Photographer:

    Do you have what it takes to be a Times photographer?

    Train your brain

    Surprise Yourself:

    Your brain is capable of more than you might think...

    Wealth Management:

    Find out to make the most of your money with our wealth management guides

    Boards advertising property for sale and rent are seen in east London

    Property Guides:

    Need help with your property? We have an entire how to guide - buying, selling, letting, moving, to help you

    Best 100 Green Companies

    Best Green Companies:

    We are seeking entries for the inaugural Sunday Times Best Green Companies Awards

    RSPB

    Love Nature:

    Enjoy some wonderful inspiring wildlife moments

    James Bond eye image

    James Bond:

    An interactive preview of the brand new For Your Eyes Only exhibition

    previous next

    QUICKLINKS

    Sudoku 

    Skip Sudoku

    70 x 70 JPEG

    Now Interactive

    Love Sudoku? Play our brand new interactive game: with added functionality and daily prizes

      Career/Jobs 

      Skip Career/Jobs

      70 x 70 JPEG

      Forget burnout, boreout is the new office disease

      Are you irritable when you return from work? Drained of emotion? You could be suffering from boreout

        Podcasts 

        Skip Podcasts

        70 x 70 JPEG

        The Bugle - Dead Hill Walking

        John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman beg Hillary to pack it in

          Driving 

          Skip Driving

          70 x 70 JPEG

          Jeremy Clarkson's greatest hits

          Prepare for some shock and awe, petrol lovers. Despite the greens trying to wipe it out, the car is about to offer us the most exciting year ever

            Travel 

            Skip Travel

            70 x 70 JPEG

            100 summer holidays for '08

            We've trawled the brochures and websites to find this summer’s best holidays for every taste and budget

            Skip Photo Galleries
            70 x 70 JPEG

            Photo Galleries

            Pictures of the Week

            A selection of the best images from around the world

              The Singapore skyline pictured at night

              Business City Guides

              Overseas contacts and local business information

              Services

              Cheese

              Best Artisan Cheeses, £27.50

              Direct from the farms

              Classifieds 

              Cars

              Skip Cars of the Week

              Jaguar XKR Supercharged Coupe

              2007/07
              £57,500
              South East England

              BMW 630Ci

              2007/07
              £40,995
              South East England

              BMW M5

              2006/06
              £41,995
              South East England

              Car insurance

              Great car insurance deals online


              Jobs

              Skip Jobs of the Week
              Business Development & Relationship Managers

              £40-55k+benefits+uncapped commission
              Morgan Keating
              South East

              Operations Director

              £ c£75,000 + executive benefits
              Morgan Keating
              London and South

              Public Members

              Unpaid with travel expenses
              Network Rail

              Properties

              Househunting. Without the hunt.

              Globrix, the property search engine

              Looking for a new home?

              Visit Times Online Property for homes for sale or rent

              Leicester LE3

              Residential development site with planning permission
              £1,500,000

              Barclays Buy Abroad

              Mortgages, bank accounts & money transfers to help you buy abroad

              Holidays

              Skip Travel of the Week

              Mauritius

              Dinarobin Hotel Golf & Spa 7 nights
              From £1830 per person – saving £530.

              Explore the French Pyrenees

              Walking & multi-activity holidays in Cauterets. Stylish self-catering apartments.
              From 350€ for 7 nights.

              Funway Holidays Int Inc

              SAVE 25% on Sandals Luxury Resorts


              Travel insurance

              Great travel insurance deals online


              Place your advert now