Judge Suggests Settlement in Harry Potter Lexicon Suit
April 16, 2008

After taking the author of an unauthorized and unreleased lexicon to her Harry Potter novels to court over copyright issues, Potter creator/author J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers have been urged to settle the matter out of court. On Wednesday, as reported by the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson Jr. suggested to both parties that the case be settled out of court since the copyrights issues are so complex and fall into unresolved areas of U.S. law. According to the AP, Patterson stated that if the case isn't settled out of court, the matter could wind up in court for years under endless appeals. Although it appears that some issues have been addressed and resolved by both parties, the two sides appear to be moving forward with the case.

Steven Vander Ark, 50, a fan of the Harry Potter series, created the Harry Potter Lexicon in print based of off his expansive website as a way to amalgam all of the information, characters, spells, etc, from the Harry Potter universe into one complete guide in print form. The issue at hand is largely due to the fact that sales from an unauthorized guide violates Rowling's copyright and Warner Brothers' intellectual property rights to the material and that Vander Ark would be financially benefiting from Rowling's property without her permission or the legal consent of Warner Brothers.

[Source: Associated Press]