A judge ruled Monday in favor of "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling in her right of first publication infringement cause against a fan and Web situation operator world Health Organization was correct to write a Potter encyclopedia.
U.S. District Judge Robert P. Patterson said Rowling had proved that Steven Vander Ark's "Harry Potter Lexicon" would cause her irreparable trauma as a writer. He permanently plugged publication of the source guide and awarded Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. $6,750 in statutory damages.
Rowling and Warner Bros., maker of the Harry Potter films and owner of intellectual property rights to the Potter books and movies, sued Michigan-based RDR Books final year to stop publication of material from the Harry Potter Lexicon Web site. Vander Ark, a former school librarian, runs the web site, which is a guide to the seven Potter books and includes elaborate descriptions of characters, creatures, spells and potions.
The minor publisher was not contesting that the lexicon infringes upon Rowling's copyright but argued that it was a just use allowable by
