Copyright infringement is a very big issue in the publishing industry. According to the US Copyright Office, copyright infringement occurs when copyrighted work such as a book, song, poem or photograph is distributed without the permission of the owner (Pascale, 2009). This is what happened to J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, in 2008 when a fan violated her copyright by intending to publish a Potter encyclopedia.
Vander Ark is the owner of the popular Harry Potter Lexicon web site and was contacted by a publishing company, RDR Books, after the release of the final Harry Potter book to publish his lexicon. According to Ark, it was decided that lexicon would include descriptions and commentaries on individual names, places, spells and creatures from the Harry Potter series. Rowling replied by saying that it is "atrocious, sloppy and consists of very little research." In addition to that, Rowling said that to publish the lexicon would equal to the wholesale theft of her 17 years of hard work.
In the defense of RDR Books, lawyer Anthony Falzone said that the lexicon was only meant to serve as a reference guide to the complicated and elaborated world of Harry Potter. But in the end, the court was in favour with Rowling and RDR Books lost the claim.
Putnis & Petelin (1996) wrote that a good writer is original, sincere and have an authentic voice. So to be fair, I would say that J.K. Rowling is not wrong to fight for the rights over her intellectual property. What Ark had in mind was to merely rearrange Rowling's work and call it as a reference book to the Harry Potter stories. In my opinion, reference books are supposed to be non-fiction books featuring actual facts that no one has copyright over. The Harry Potter series is completely fictional and Ark's plan to publish a Potter encyclopedia would mean that he is openly taking Rowling's ideas and at the same time violating her copyright.
References:
Pascale, C 2009, Copyright Infringement, viewed 17 November 2009, <http://intellectualpropertylaw.suite101.com/article.cfm/copyright_infringement>
Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney.
*Additional information: However, in January 2009 a modified and shorter version of the lexicon was published as The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction. Source: Wikipedia and Amazon Books.
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