Hot on Facebook

Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Rowling Blasts Unauthorized Spinoff

Fan's encyclopedia violates copyright, Hogwarts spirit: author

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 29, 2008 2:15 PM CST

(Newser) – As part of her ongoing effort to keep a fan from publishing a Harry Potter encyclopedia, J.K. Rowling is suggesting that the book would violate the wizarding world's moral and ethical standards, reports the New York Daily News. “I am very frustrated that a former fan has tried to co-opt my work for financial gain,” she wrote in a letter to a federal judge.

Steven Vander Ark’s attempts to capitalize on the series "demonstrate that he is woefully unfit to represent himself as either a fan of or expert on books whose spirit he seems entirely to have missed," Rowling wrote in papers backing up a lawsuit filed last fall. She says she has been planning such an encyclopedia for years but hasn’t had time to write it.

[Images (5)]

[Videos (2)]

This undated photo, supplied by Warner Bros. Pictures, shows Daniel Radcliffe who plays Harry Potter in a scene from Warner Bros. Pictures' new fantasy "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." In... (Associated Press)

A masked Harry Potter fan begins to read the latest German edition of J.K. Rowling's seventh fantasy book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" after a book presentation Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007, in Berlin,... (Associated Press)

Author J.K. Rowling listens to a question from the media during a news conference in this Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2006 file photo, in New York. In papers filed for a lawsuit in Manhattan, writer J.K. Rowling... (Associated Press)

J.K. Rowling, author of the international best selling Harry Potter books, talks to reporters before a book reading at a theater in Toronto, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,J.P.... (Associated Press)

Author J.K. Rowling signs copies of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' for 1,600 public school children in this Oct. 15, 2007 file photo at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ric Francis) (Associated Press)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Steve Vander Ark gives a presentation at Sectus 2007 (thecottonginny (YouTube))

RDR talks Legalities (dawningoftime (YouTube))

View larger videos >>

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Embattled Potter Fan Moved to Tears in Court

'It's been difficult' being sued by Rowling, encyclopedist says

(NEWSER) - The Harry Potter fan whose attempt to put into print his encyclopedic companion brought a lawsuit from author JK Rowling, broke down in tears in a Manhattan court today discussing how much the books mean to him, the AP reports. Steven Vander Ark became distraught when asked how the lawsuit had affected his relationship with the world of Potter fans. More»

JK Rowling Pens Potter Prequel

800-word manuscript to be auctioned for charity

(NEWSER) - Harry Potter fans mourned when JK Rowling ended the enormously popular schoolboy wizard saga with the seventh and final book last year. But now she has written a surprise short prequel likely to trigger a bidding frenzy. Rowling has donated an 800-word handwritten manuscript to the British bookseller Waterstone's to be auctioned for charity. More»

Harry Potter Full of Gibberish, Judge Says

He admits he got confused reading it to his grandkids

(NEWSER) - The judge in the Harry Potter copyright case gave the man who compiled The Harry Potter Lexicon a one-up against JK Rowling today when he announced that her books were full of gibberish, the Telegraph reports. He said he tried reading one to his grandkids and found it "extremely complex" and suggested that a guidebook would be handy. He won't issue his ruling for several weeks and urged both sides to settle out of court. More»

Rowling Slams Potter Reference Project in Court

Author says print version of fan's Lexicon infringes on her plans

(NEWSER) - Author JK Rowling today slammed a planned print version of a fan's Harry Potter Lexicon as exploiting her ideas, the New York Times reports. “My readership parting with their or their parents’ hard earned cash for this—I think it’s a travesty," Potter's creator complained in court. Rowling praised the original Web incarnation, but objects to publishing a book for profit. More»

JK Rowling Considered Suicide

Harry Potter author discusses depression during mid-20s

(NEWSER) - Before Harry Potter came along, his creator was broke, recently divorced, depressed, and near suicide, reports the Times of London. JK Rowling was a mom in her mid-20s, living in a cramped apartment paid for by a friend when she sought professional help. “We’re talking suicidal thoughts here, we’re not talking ‘I’m a little bit miserable,'” she told a student magazine at Edinburgh University. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Rowling Blasts Unauthorized Spinoff