J.K. Rowling can breathe a sigh of relief. A U.S. judge on Monday brought to a standstill the publication of an unofficial encyclopedia based on the best-selling Harry Potter book series in a copyright case author J.K. Rowling claimed would harm other writers.

“Plaintiffs have shown that the lexicon copies a sufficient quantity of the Harry Potter series to support a finding of substantial similarity between the Lexicon and Rowling’s novels,” Judge Robert P. Patterson Jr. of Federal District Court in Manhattan explained in his 68-page ruling halting the publication of “The Harry Potter Lexicon,” written by an apparent fan of the fantasy saga, Steven Jan Vander Ark.

The decision was taken practically five months after a four-day trial and represents a very important triumph for author J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers Entertainment, the company that distributes the Harry Potter big screen productions. They had sued in order to prevent a Michigan-based publisher from releasing the 400-page book, which Steven Jan Vander Ark had written in approximately one month. In addition to this, Judge Patterson granted the plaintiffs $6,750 in damages.

“I took no pleasure at all in bringing legal action and am delighted that this issue has been resolved favorably,” J.K. Rowling said in a statement. “I went to court to uphold the right of authors everywhere to protect their own original work. The proposed book took an enormous amount of my work and added virtually no original commentary of its own,” the Harry Potter creator added, as cited by The New York Times.

However, in spite of the fact that he lost the legal battle, Mr. Vander Ark said that he kept on being a fan of the Harry Potter franchise and would be pleased to have a nice chat with J.K. Rowling.

Mr. Vander Ark, 50, said he wanted to come to an agreement with the author of the fantasy saga, so that he could proceed with the publication of the encyclopedia, which he claims he has conceived as a result of the fierce demands of his Web site’s fans, also titled The Harry Potter Lexicon.

Nevertheless, the admirer of the most popular wizard out there has yet one more ace up his sleeve. His book “In Search of Harry Potter” is due for release next month. The work represents a memoir of Mr. Vander Ark’s travels to places very similar to the locations depicted in the original J.K. Rowling best-selling novels. Furthermore, Mr. Vander Ark thinks the book should not be imperiled by any accusations. “It’s a travel memoir,” he said in a telephone interview on Monday, as reported by The New York Times. “It’s not in any way the kind of a thing which should raise any red flags,” he added.

Although Steven Jan Vander Ark used to be a librarian and a teacher at Byron Center Christian School in Byron Center, Mich., he now writes what he sees with his mind’s eye for a living.

The lawsuit filed last year against the company due to publish Mr. Vander Ark’s work, RDR Books, which is based in Muskegon, Michigan, claimed that the encyclopedia imitated J.K. Rowling’s material and added little or no new information.