Stanford Law School’s Fair Use Project, a group that provides legal support designed to clarify the boundaries of "fair use" in order to enhance creative freedom, has announced that it will help defend RDR Books in its lawsuit with J.K. Rowling.
Rowling filed a lawsuit on Oct. 31 of this year against RDR Books in an attempt to stop publication of The Harry Potter Lexicon, claiming copyright and trademark infringement. A temporary restraining order halting production of the book was granted on Nov. 8.
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"The public has long enjoyed the right to create reference guides that discuss literary works, comment on them, and make them more accessible," said Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project, who will serve as counsel on the case. "J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. are threatening that right. We intend to demonstrate that the fair use doctrine protects the Harry Potter Lexicon."
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"The Harry Potter Lexicon draws material and inspiration from the Harry Potter series but is an entirely new piece of work," said David S. Hammer, co-counsel for RDR Books. "It is a companion to Rowling’s work, not a substitute for it. No one is going to buy the Lexicon instead of a Harry Potter book, or instead of seeing a Harry Potter film."
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"This book is a reference work based on more than seven years of research by a distinguished volunteer team of librarians and academics," explained co-counsel Julie Ahrens, associate director of the Fair Use Project. "Fair use protects scholars’ rights to create such companion guides. It simply is not the case that authors can exploit copyright law to prevent analysis and commentary on their work."
A hearing date has been set for February 6, 2008.
You can read more on the history of the case at the links below.
J.K. Rowling files lawsuit J.K. Rowling’s statement RDR Publisher’s statement The Lexicon’s statement Judge issues restraining order