J.K. Rowling Is Wrong
JK Rowling bashes ‘Harry Potter Lexicon’
NEW YORK – As the creator of the Harry Potter books sees it, her kindness to fans might come back to haunt her.
In papers filed for a lawsuit in Manhattan, J.K. Rowling says she feels betrayed by a fan, Steven Vander Ark, for his role in trying to publish an unauthorized reference work, “Harry Potter Lexicon.”
Ark is editor of a Web site containing a fan-created collection of essays and encyclopedic material on the Potter universe, including lists of spells and potions found in the books, a catalog of magical creatures and a who’s who in the wizarding world.
Rowling said she was especially irked that the site’s owner and the lexicon’s would-be publisher, RDR Books, continued to insist that her acceptance of free, fan-based Web sites justified the efforts.
“I am deeply troubled by the portrayal of my efforts to protect and preserve the copyrights I have been granted in the Harry Potter books,” she wrote in court papers filed Wednesday in a lawsuit she brought against the small Muskegon, Mich., publisher.
She said she intends to publish her own definitive Harry Potter encyclopedia.
At one time in her life, Rowling must have been a fan of something.
Has she forgotten what that was like?
I understand her commercial point of view. A good compromise here would be for the editor of this fan-based book to donate the proceeds to a charity of Rowling’s choice.
Although Rowling might think such a book would dilute the market for one she’d author, I don’t think that’d be the case. People would rather have official, authorized material. They only turn to unauthorized versions when no others are available.
Just as with ebook versions of her work.
J.K., please get ebook versions out there!
Previously here:
J.K. Rowling: A Year In The Life
Quote: J.K. Rowling
Mike Cane 2008 
March 1, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I think J.K. Rowling is right. Creating a web site is one thing, but putting a book together to profit from her work is wrong.
March 1, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Others have put together reference books based on fictional worlds.
Here’s one of them off the top of my head:
http://www.amazon.com/Dune-Encyclopedia-Authorized-Masterpiece-Imagination/dp/0425068137/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204415146&sr=1-1
That one is authorized. Here’s some that aren’t:
http://www.amazon.com/Redeemed-Unauthorized-Guide-Lars-Pearson/dp/0972595937/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204415309&sr=1-5
http://www.amazon.com/Slayer-Expanded-Updated-Unofficial-Unauthorized/dp/B000HWYJH6/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204415309&sr=1-8
Just search amazon for “unauthorized guide.” This has gone on a long, long time.
March 1, 2008 at 11:41 pm
I wonder if you need to put the word “Unauthorized” in the title to be allowed to do it.