Written by a single mother over many hours in cafes
throughout the city of Edinburgh, the Harry Potter series has gone on to
become aglobal success, inspiring blockbuster movies, countless pages
of fan-fiction,and various toys and knock-offs. Naturally,it has also
inspired hours of litigation over copyright- and other more surprising
issues as well.
Glenn Duker, lawyer and solicitor, takes a brief tour of all things Harry Potter - and litigation.
Rowling Vs Vander Ark
Steven Vander Ark was a serious Harry Potter fan who
painstakingly constructed an exhaustive online reference guide called
the Harry Potter Lexicon. Although Vander Ark and Rowling initially
enjoyed a friendly relationship, it cooled considerably upon the
revelation that US-based publisher, RDR books, intended to publish a
print version of the website.
In the resulting court case, Rowling argued that the
book would harm the chances of her own intended encyclopedia about the
series, the proceeds of which were to be donated to charity. Also, when
RDR Books argued that their use of her work was allowed in the standard
of "reasonable use" for a reference guide, Rowling countered the book
exceeded such limits, appropriating her writing wholesale and failing to
add "transformative" material that added to cultural appreciation and
knowledge of the originals. In the end, the judge sided with Rowling,
and Vander Ark was reduced to tears in the courtroom when asked about
the impact of the case on his life.
The Shoe on the Other Foot
However, Rowling has also been on the other side of
an intellectual propertystoush - and on more than one occasion. In 2011,
the estate of the late Adrian Jacobs intended to launch a $15 million
lawsuit against her for a perceived infringement of his book "Willy the
Wizard." However, attempts to carry this out in both the US and the UK
ultimately failed. American author Nancy Stouffer also accused Rowling
of stealing ideas; this mainly centeredaround her assertion that she had
invented the term "muggles" in her 1984 story "The Legend of Rah and
the Muggles". She also claimed a character called Larry Potter, a dark
haired boy with glasses, had been purloined by Rowling as well.
In the end, however, Stouffer's case was also
dismissed by Rowling and a crack legal team, with counter-accusations
that Stouffer had defrauded the court with false documents and
untruthful testimony - including the retroactive addition of the word
"muggle" into older documents.
Other Sundry Legal Actions
Warner Bros Group, the conglomerate behind the Harry
Potter movies, once launched a lawsuit against a group constructing a
facade for a Hindu religious festival. The reason? They were using the
image of Hogwarts, Harry Potter's school, without permission. In 2005, a
security guard stole some pages from Harry Potter and the Half Blood
Prince before it was released, intending to blackmail the publishers by
threatening to leak them. He threatened the journalist who exposed him
with a gun and ended up in jail for four years. In addition to these
cases, Rowling and her publisher have threatened injunctions against
anyone who might reveal anything from the books before their official
release date. This has caused controversy from civil liberties
campaigners, who argue that this infringes upon personal freedoms.
Who knew that The Boy Who Lived would inspire so many
turns in the courtroom? If you have an issue of copyright infringement,
or someone is making such accusations against you and you need
professional advice, contact Glenn Duker, lawyer and solicitor.
