J.K. Rowling has appeared in court today following the lawsuit filed against the Harry Potter Lexicon.
The trial has gone on for three days so far, but District Judge Patterson has repeated what he said on Tuesday, urging both parties to come to a settlement.
Quote:
U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson Jr. said the copyright infringement case was a legal close call, involving unresolved areas of American law, and was almost certain to end in years of appeals.
"I think this case, with imagination, could be settled," Patterson said on the third day of the trial in Manhattan federal court.
It appears that Anthony Falzone, the man representing RDR Books, also has said that both sides of the trial would like to settle on the trademark infringement claims, along with the unfair competition claims. If this is to happen, all that is left would be the core of the case, copyright infringement.
However, J.K. Rowling’s lawyers believe that they have proven that the Lexicon contains more copyrighted material from the books than is permittable.
Quote:
Lawyers for the British writer and Warner Bros., which holds intellectual property rights to the Potter books and films, rested their case Wednesday morning, saying they believed they had proven that "The Harry Potter Lexicon" took too much copyrighted material from Rowling's work.
The lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Dale Margaret Cendali, said she still planned to call Rowling to the stand for a second time later in the trial to rebut testimony offered by the defendant, RDR Books.
Quote:
In his opening statement, RDR lawyer Anthony Falzone defended the Lexicon as a reference guide, calling it a legitimate effort "to organize and discuss the complicated and very elaborate world of Harry Potter." The small publisher is not contesting that the Lexicon infringes upon Rowling's copyright but argues that it is a fair use allowable by law for reference books.
The remaining testimonies are expected to continue this week, we’ll keep you updated as they come in.
Sources:
Blogs.WSJ &
MSNBC.
Furthermore, Warner Bros has sent us a statement by J.K. Rowling regarding the lawsuit.
Quote:
“The book at the heart of this case has overstepped a boundary so unreasonably that I have been forced, regretfully, to take legal action. Authors have a right to protect their works from misuse. Do I have fewer rights because many people read my books? If this book is published, it will open the floodgates for anyone to lift an author’s work and present it as their own. But if it is not published, that will be a boon not only to all who create original works, but to all who enjoy those works.”
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 Stanford Law School defends RDR Books Jo & WB file full injunction request – part I Jo & WB file full injunction request – part II RDR Books denied JKR's personal notes RDR Books file response to J.K.R/W.B. Lexicon lawsuit J.K.Rowling/Warner Bros. file latest response in Lexicon suit Lexicon preliminary injunction hearing rescheduled Lexicon lawsuit trial further delayed J.K. Rowling to appear in New York court for trial against Lexicon J.K.Rowling arrives at New York court, testifies against Lexicon Lexicon owner testifies in court; breaks down on stand UPDATE: Two settlements have now been
met; in regards to the false advertising of the book and deceptive trade practice claims.
Two settlements met in Lexicon lawsuit (UPDATED) 
