Thursday, April 17, 2008

Drama in the Courtroom

As a fan of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, I've been following reports in The New York Times on the Federal District Court trial involving Rowling and librarian Steven Vander Ark.

With leads like this one in Wednesday's New York Times, it's hard not to be caught up in the drama of it all:
Shhh! The librarian at the heart of the Harry Potter copyright-infringement lawsuit stood up to J.K. Rowling on Tuesday in a Manhattan courtroom, and then broke down sobbing.
Rowling and and her film producers, Warner Brothers Entertainment, are suing Vander Ark's publisher, RDR Books, to stop publication of the Harry Potter Lexicon. The encyclopedia is based on Vander Ark’s web site.

Rowling herself was tearful on the stand, saying that "wholesale theft of 17 years of my hard work" is involved. Vander Ark contends his work is intended as an encylopedia that would help fans enjoy Rowling's works even more.

It's hard to know who is right; but emotions are certainly running high on both sides. To read more about it:

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