JKR VS RDR Books

How did this legal battle arise?

In late 2007 Steve Van Der Ark, owner of the online Harry Potter encyclopedia website The Harry Potter Lexicon, announced that the site was to publish a book through book publisher RDR Books. The book was to be released on November 28th 2007 and was effectively a paper edition of the site. J.K. Rowling had already stated that she herself had plans to publish a Harry Potter encyclopedia with all proceeds being donated to various charities.

"The infringing book is particularly troubling as it is in direct contravention to Ms. Rowling's repeatedly stated intention to publish her own companion books to the series and donate proceeds of such books to charity."

J.K. Rowling, a 'regular' visitor of the HP Lexicon knew how reliable the site was and was well aware that the book would simply be an A-Z listing of the Harry Potter series. On 31st October 2007 both J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers filed suit against RDR Books and Steve Van Der Ark claiming that The HP Lexicon book "inappropriately referenced Rowling's fictional characters and universe."

Both J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers had tried to avoid filing a law-suit and had made several attempts to contact RDR Books to resolve the issue. On September 12th 2007, J.K. Rowling through the Christopher Little Agency emailed RDR Books and Steve Van Der Ark reminding them that she had made plans to publish her own HP encyclopedia. A excerpt of the email reads;

Appealing to Mr. Vander Ark as a friend and supporter of Ms. Rowling and the Harry Potter books, Ms. Rowling's agent asked Mr. Vander Ark to forgo publication of the Infringing Book." The email was not replied to for six days.

On September 18th

Both J.K. Rowlings and Warner Brothers lawyers forward emails to RDR Books and Steve Van Der Ark informing them that the book which the seeked to publish was infringing copyright laws. They requested the publication cease in the US and internationally.On the same day Mr Van Der Ark replies stating that he has "been asked to leave all correspondence in this matter to others."

On September 19th

RDR Books replies to the emails sent by Warner Brothers and J.K. Rowling stating that "It is our intention to thoroughly study the various issues you have raised and discuss them with our legal advisers."

On October 3rd 2007

After waiting 2 weeks for a reply, Warner Brothers sends another email to RDR Books stating that "after waiting another two weeks and receiving no substantive response...emphasizing their clients' concerns and the impending publication date." RDR Book's replies asking for more time to reply on the matter, this extended time is granted.

October 11th 2007

After seeking more time to deal with the matter, RDR Books sends a "cease and desist" letter to Warner Brothers claiming that it had infringed upon the Lexicon's copyright by publishing a timeline in the Harry Potter DVDs. Warner Brother responds stating that it will investigate the matter further but in the mean time, requests a print version of the Harry Potter Lexicon so that it can evaluate its claims further. RDR dismisses this claim and replies as the suit claims, in a rudely manner: "If you do not know how to print that material from the Lexicon Website please ask one of your people to show you how."

October 19th 2007

JKR and Warner Brothers send a third letter to RDR Books but the response is the same as the last. It was looking into the matter.

October 23rd 2007

The Christopher Little Agency learns that RDR books had offered the books publishing rights to Random House in Germany and to Crown Publishing in Taiwan.

October 24th 2007

A fourth letter is sent to RDR on behalf of JKR and Warner Brother which expressed "their grave concerns about RDR Books' recent behavior and asking for confirmation that RDR Books would not publish the Infringing Book until it attempted to resolve this matter in good faith." There was once again a request for a copy of the book and a deadline (October 29th 2007) was set for a response. On the same day, RDR responds stating that the book is directly copied from the HP Lexicon, a site which JKR has already gave permission to. RDR Books also reponds stating: and that there were allegedly other Harry Potter guides similar to the Infringing Book on the market."

October 31st 2007

An official law suit is filed against RDR Books on seven grounds. These are

-Infringement upon Coppright laws
-Infringement upon Federal Trademark laws
-Unfair Competition and False Designation of Origin
-False Advertising
-Deceptive Trade Practices
-Unfair Competition
-Declaratory Judgment Regarding Copyright Infringement

On November 1st 2007

J.K. Rowling updated her official website about the law suit stating:

"As is now widely known, a complaint has been filed in the name of Warner Bros and myself against the publisher of a proposed Lexicon, written by Steven VanderArk. This decision was reached, on my part, with immense sadness and disappointment, and only because direct appeals for a reasonable solution failed. I never dreamed, in the light of our previous good relations – including giving the Lexicon a Fansite Award - that this situation would ever arise.From what I understand, the proposed book is not criticism or review of Harry Potter's world, which would be entirely legitimate – neither I nor anybody connected with Harry Potter has ever tried to prevent such works being published. It is, we believe, a print version of the website, except now the information that was freely available to everybody is to become a commercial enterprise. It is not reasonable, or legal, for anybody, fan or otherwise, to take an author's hard work, re-organize their characters and plots, and sell them for their own commercial gain. However much an individual claims to love somebody else's work, it does not become theirs to sell."

November 8th 2007

A court orders RDR Books to hand over a manuscript of the proposed HP Lexicon. RDR respond on its official site stating that it had "repeatedly offered to settle this case to Ms. Rowling's satisfaction and publish the book."

November 9th 2007

The Judge overseeing the law suit places a restraining order on RDR Books which will prevent the HP Lexicon book from being published until February 6th 2008. JKR updates her official site again regarding the restraining order stating:

"I take no pleasure in the fact that publication has been prevented for the present. On the contrary, I feel massively disappointed that this matter had to come to court at all. Despite repeated requests, the publishers have refused to even countenance making any changes to the book to ensure that it does not infringe my rights. Unless their position changes, we will all return to court next year. Given my past good relations with the Lexicon fansite, I can only feel sad and disillusioned that this is where we have ended up."

RDR Books responds by stating:

It is our wish that Ms. Rowling join Mr. Vander Ark in his campaign for literary freedom and free expression by dropping her complaint against a book we are confident she would enjoy reading."

Important Dates

- January 15th 2008 - Both Warner Brothers and JKR file their principal memorandum of law and supporting papers.

- January 16th 2008 - Both Warner Brothers and JKR file a full complaint against RDR Books to which RDR has three weeks to reply.

- February 9th 2008 - RDR Books files its official response for an injunction of the HP Lexicon encyclopedia.

- March 10th 2008 - An official date for the trail of the JKR vs. RDR case is announced, the trial will commence on March 24, 25 and 26, starting at 9:30 a.m.

- March 13th 2008 - The official trial date is changed to April 14 2008.

JKR vs. RDR Books - The Court Trial

On October 31st JKR and WB officially filed suit over a proposed Harry Potter encyclopedia which was to be published by Steve Van Der Ark of the Harry Potter Lexicon. The Portkey has provided a brief and simple version of events which occured on each day of the trial. These notes include quotes from Judge Patterson who will oversee the case, information submitted to The-Portkey.com through Warner Brothers / J.K. Rowling's official lawyers and links to other websites which provide extensive coverage of the trial.

Monday 14th April 2008 - Trial Begins

On Monday 14th April, J.K. Rowling is called to testify against the publication of the HP Lexicon's HP Encyclopedia.

"The idea of my readership parting with their or their parents' hard-earned cash for this is a travesty. RDR's book constitutes a Harry Potter rip-off of the type I have spent years trying to prevent. If RDR's position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine fans on the internet. He [Mr. Vander Ark] has simply taken it and copied it. It is sloppy, lazy and it takes my work wholesale."

It has been reported that during JKR's testimony she was almost reduced to tears stating:

"I don’t want to cry, because I’m British, [said Rowling, breaking down a bit] "but the [Harry Potter books] meant setting aside my children."

If that was a show of weakness on Rowling’s part, to the Law Blog’s sensibilities, it was effective in making her seem sympathetic. It was also a counterpoint to testimony that was otherwise declarative and authoritative.

The BBC documented the entire legal proceedings that day - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7346093.stm

The trial ends for the day.

Tuesday 15th April 2008

On Tuesday 15th April, Steve Van Der Ark was called to testify for the trial. The Wall Street Journal reports: But the most telling part of Vander Ark’s testimony came at the end of Hammer’s direct examination. Asked whether he still considered himself a part of the Harry Potter fan community — those that, in Vander Ark’s words, devote most of their free time to all things Potter, he choked up, and said, “I did.” But then, when pressed on it, he changed his answer. “I do,” he said, breaking up. Judge Patterson, the judge overseeing the entire case is believed to have stopped the proceedings in order to question the motives of the trial. He states; “I’m concerned that this case is more lawyer-driven than it is client-driven,” he lamented. The fair use people are on one side, and a large company is on the other side. . . . The parties ought to see if there’s not a way to work this out, because there are strong issues in this case and it could come out one way or the other. The fair use doctrine is not clear.”

The trial ends for the day.

Useful link: Wall Street Journal

Wednesday 16th April 2008

The trial commences again for a third day in which lawyers for JKR and WB state that they have reached a settlement on the false advertising and deceptive trade practices claims with RDR Books. On the same day, The-Portkey.com receives an official statement from J.K. Rowling via Warner Brothers legal team stating: “The book at the heart of this case has overstepped a boundary so unreasonably that I have been forced, regretfully, to take legal action. Authors have a right to protect their works from misuse. Do I have fewer rights because many people read my books? If this book is published, it will open the floodgates for anyone to lift an author’s work and present it as their own. But if it is not published, that will be a boon not only to all who create original works, but to all who enjoy those works.” The third day of the trial ends with no decision made. Judge Patterson however believes that each side has provided valid strong cases; Maybe I Need a Reference Guide for This Case: That was Judge Patterson’s commentary at the close of testimony. Again, he urged the parties to consider settlement, reminding them that fair use is a “murky area” of law. Hammer then requested the opportunity to make a closing statement, which was a good call because his co-counsel, Anthony Falzone, delivered a strong one.

The trial ends for the day.

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TPK Statement: The-Portkey.com is in no way involved in the J.K. Rowling VS. RDR Books law suit. The information on this page has been reproduced so that it provides an accurate, detailed account of the trial preceedings. The-Portkey.com in no way endorses the publishing of a third party Harry Potter encyclopedia neither does it condemn it. Information submitted to TPK is accurate. Warner Brothers have issued official statements to The-Portkey.com which have been reproduced for the purpose of Harry Potter fans.

Useful Links
BBC News Coverage
The Sydney Morning Herald
The International Herald Tribune
The Wall Street Journal
The Age
E Canada Now