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Famed British writer J. K. Rowling, who is trying to stop the
publication of an unauthorized Harry Potter lexicon because of copyright
infringement she calls “wholesale theft,” told a Manhattan court Monday that
being betrayed by a fan – the author of the encyclopedia – has caused her
“heartache.”
J. K. Rowling testified before a New
York courtroom on Monday in a lawsuit to block publication of “The
Harry Potter Lexicon,” a 400-page book authored by Steven Vander Ark, editor of fan
website www.hp-lexicon.org, that was to be published last November via Michigan-based
RDR Books.
The creator of bespectacled wizard boy Harry Potter appeared
emotional during her 3-hour testimony and even fought back tears, reports the
New York Times. She told Judge Robert P. Patterson, who is hearing the case
without a jury, that the book amounts to “wholesale theft” and is a rip-off of
nearly 20 years of her hard work.
Rowling said she has read the manuscript and that she
considers it a blatant plagiarism of her own writing. The 42-year-old mother of
three said this was not a matter of money but rather of 17 years of her life
being pilfered.
The first Harry Potter book she wrote marked a change of
luck for Rowling; she was a single parent living on state benefits who soon
became one of Britain’s
favorite billionaires.
“I am an author - 17-years of my work is being exploited
here. This is not about money,” the writer told the court.
Rowling went on to describe the turmoil, the “stress and
heartache” she has been feeling since learning of Ark’s plans to publish the unauthorized
lexicon. “It has really decimated the demands of my creative work for the last
month,” she testified, as quoted by the Times.
“You lose the threads, you worry if you’ll ever be able to
pick them up again,” she said.
As to Ark’s
book, which is based on the website, Rowling said it was “sloppy, lazy,” and
full of errors. She said the only reason it was being published in the first
place was to bring the publisher and Ark
“a fast buck.” The intended price for the book was $24.95.
The Times adds that the book’s publisher, Roger Rapoport,
testified that he had heard of Ark
and his passion for the Harry Potter universe from his local newspaper and that
he approached the passionate reader, who is also a trained librarian, to pen a
book. Rapoport said he had agreed to cover the costs of any potential lawsuit.
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