Spellbinding Stop to Harry Potter Lexicon
Federal judge sides with author dismissing fair use argument.
Harry Potter fans listen up! E! Online reports that a federal judge ruled today, hopefully settling the battle between author J. K. Rowling and the popular fansite that wanted to publish The Harry Potter Lexicon.
The result is that the Lexicon, which was planned to be a book version of the fansite, coming with a good length and price at 400 pages and $25 dollars, is a no go.
U.S. district Judge Robert Patterson dismissed defense arguments that fair-use clauses in copyright law would protect the book, ruling that it violated Rowling's creations.
Before ruling, Patterson went even further, telling both parties to settle, no matter what happened in his court, due to weakness in copyright laws giving both sides options for appeals that could keep the argument going for years.
The dispute has already been raging since last fall when Rowling got help from Warner Bros. to sue both RDR Books and Author Steven Vander Ark after finding out about plans for The Lexicon.
