The Harry Potter Lexicon: Who Has the Rights?

As many of you readers may already know. J.K. Rowling (the author of the acclaimed Harry Potter series) and Warner Brothers Entertainment filed a lawsuit last October against Steven Vander Ark and RDR Books Publishing Company. This lawsuit alleges that the Harry Potter Lexicon (written by Vander Ark) infringes on the rights of Rowling as a writer to own her own works. The publisher and Vander Ark argue that this book is not a reprint of her work, but a detailed compendium of information about the famous series. The debate continues at trial starting today in New York.

That being said, the question still remains as to which side should prevail in this matter. I think that Vander Ark and the publisher have it right in this case. There is nothing preventing a person from creating a reference material regarding a work of fiction. It is done all the time; in fact, there are at least ten such reference books being sold on Amazon.com for the Harry Potter series.

Rowling says that to her "understand[ing], the proposed book is not criticism or review of Harry Potter's world," but "...a print version of the website, except now the information that was freely available to everybody is to become a commercial enterprise." However RDR Books says "the entire website is nonfiction 'criticism and review.'"

So who is right in this case? I went to the Harry Potter Lexicon online and found that the site is exactly as the publisher has described it. It is run just like an encyclopedia that is broken down into subsections with terms alphabetized for convenience. This site is the very definition of reference material for the Harry Potter series. It does not, as far as I can tell, copy or reword any of Rowling's original work. It just defines her terminology in one convenient place. Even Rowling states on her website that "this is such a great site that I have been known to sneak into an Internet cage while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of Harry Potter."

Now RDR Books claims that the Harry Potter Lexicon is an "encyclopedic reference book" and therefore does not fall under copyright protection. I tend to agree with them. An encyclopedia is not a "derivative work" as defined by copyright law. In other words, it is not a recreation of what Rowling wrote, but a reference material for what she wrote. She owns the concepts she created in her stories, not what is written in a critical discussion about her stories.

I believe the reason J.K. Rowling filed this lawsuit is because she felt threatened by this man's publication. Not in the sense that he was stealing her already written work, but that she would not be able to write a similar compendium in the future and compete with what Vander Ark has written. She claims in the complaint that she is planning to write her own compendium at some future date, and that his publishing this book stops her from being able to publish her own. The publication of The Harry Potter Lexicon will not infringe on her rights or abilities to write her own guide anymore than the publication of the Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter has.

All in all, I think the Harry Potter Lexicon is a far cry from an infringement on Ms. Rowling's works. I think that the court will find in favor of Mr. Vander Ark as they have found in the favor of other authors, who have been sued for similar reasons in the past. I also think that to rule in favor of Rowling in this case might make it extremely uncomfortable for all the authors of other unofficial guides out there.

"Latest News on the Harry Potter Lexicon", RDR Books

"Harry Potter Lexicon", Amazon.com

J.K. Rowling, "The Daily News", J.K. Rowling Official Site

Steven Vander Ark, "The Harry Potter Lexicon", The Harry Potter Lexicon

"U.S. Code: Title 17 - Copyrights: Chapter 1 - Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright: Section 101 - Definitions", AltLaw: The Free Legal Search Engine

O'Melveny & Meyers LLP, "Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., et al v. RDR Books, et al" Judicia.com Docs