Harry Potter's Author Goes to Court

Thu, 01 November 2007 23:08:48 ET

J.K. Rowling is suing RDR Books to stop their endeavour in publishing Harry Potter encyclopaedia.

J.K. Rowling is suing a US publisher planning to release a Harry Potter encyclopaedia. The millionaire author and Warner Bros - who make the Harry Potter films - are attempting to block RDR Books from publishing a 400-page book based on the Harry Potter Lexicon website.

Rowling said: "I cannot approve of 'companion books' or 'encyclopaedias' that seek to pre-empt my definitive Potter reference book for their authors' own personal gain." The author has previously praised Harry Potter Lexicon for its accurate, detailed information about her boy wizard creation, and in 2004 even presented it with a Fan Site Award. But Rowling claims the book will infringe on her intellectual property rights and prevent her writing her own Harry Potter encyclopaedia.

Meanwhile, the world's most famous children's writer has just completed a set of handwritten fairytales, a spin-off from her Harry Potter books. Only seven copies of 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' - which were mentioned in the final book 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' - will be published.

One copy of the tales - illustrated by Rowling herself - will be auctioned to raise money for Rowling's charity, The Children's Voice. She will give the other copies away. Rowling said: "People kept saying to me 'you'll be glad to have a break from writing', when of course I wasn't taking a break at all. I was literally writing out - as these are handwritten books - these new stories which has been a wonderful way to say goodbye. It's like coming up from a deep dive."

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