Product Description

The adventures of wizard-in-training Harry Potter may have ended but the drama continues, most recently in federal court in Manhattan, where a decision has recently been handed down in the much-publicized copyright case brought by J.K. Rowling seeking to prevent the publication of a Harry Potter encyclopedia.

The case is of interest to Harry Potter fans and the general public. It deals with current copyright issues of particular interest to writers and bloggers. It also deals with the creative process behind the Potter series.

Harry Potter & the Order of the Court discusses the court's decision and its broader implications for those who write, both online and in print.

The case was highlighted by Ms. Rowling taking the witness stand in her first courtroom appearance. Her dramatic testimony -- offering insights into her creative process and her emotional attachment to the Harry Potter series -- is included, both direct and cross-examination.

Beyond the star presence of Ms. Rowling, the case is of general interest as it involves an important but little understood aspect of copyright law: the doctrine of "fair use." Fair use refers to situations where one is allowed to use material from a copyrighted work without seeking permission from the author, such as a book critic quoting from a novel or a music critic using a short clip of a song.

Fair use applies whether you write on paper or online. But the doctrine has taken on added importance in the Internet Age where almost all of us "publish" in one form or another, be it through creating websites, writing blogs or uploading content. And as authors or publishers, we often feel the need to quote, closely paraphrase, or otherwise use material others have created. This is where fair use comes in.

Harry Potter & the Order of the Court discusses fair use as it relates to the J.K. Rowling case and in terms of the broader application of the doctrine, offering many specific examples as to what likely does, and does not, constitute fair use.

In addition to Ms. Rowling s testimony, we have included selected court documents filed in the litigation, including the court decision. Perhaps because the case involves one of the most popular fictional series of all time, these court documents make for fairly compelling reading, rather like a novel one cannot put down.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #390746 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• 208 pages

Review
What is the meaning of intellectual property in a world of rapidly evolving media forms? How do owners protect their intellectual property? In sharing it, how do they preserve their rights? What constitutes fair Use of the fruits of someone else s genius? What allowances should be made to ensure the free flow of information to citizens and scholars?

In Robert S. Want's remarkable and wonderfully named new book, Harry Potter and the Order of The Court, the reader can explore all these intriguing issues in a unique and fascinating context: a recent litigation that Harry Potter series author J. K. Rowling initiated against RDR Books to prevent them from marketing or selling a planned book: The Harry Potter Lexicon, a sort of Potter encyclopedia assembled by Steven Vander Ark.

The case was complicated by a variety of factors, including the fact that RDR alleged the Lexicon was a print version of The Harry Potter Lexicon website, one of the many sites on the internet that Potter fans can currently access for free. Then there was the fact that J. K. Rowling had encouraged such websites and in fact had been quoted positively in reference to this particular site.

In fact, Mr. Want's fascinating account of this complex litigation -- which brought literary fantasy, legal reality, and the contending interests of creative ownership and scholarly privilege into the courtroom -- focuses its attention on the central issue of "Fair Use."

The adventures of Harry Potter may be at an end, but the struggle to define the Fair Use fair doctrine as it applies to many kinds of intellectual property (music, literature, software, web pages, etc.) is likely to continue unabated as media forms continue evolve faster than the law can corral and police their use. Future cases will be decided one at a time, as courts review the Fair Use principles and case law already established, but also apply the subjective judgments and moral instincts that may be appropriate to a given case. All of this will be messy and difficult, but Robert Want s terrific book, through its thorough examination of the R.K. Rowling case, provides the reader with a lively and fascinating look at the battles that lie ahead for those that create intellectual property and those that use it. This is a book that will intrigue writers, readers, Harry Potter fans, and lawyers interested in intellectual property issues. Creators need to be able to protect the rights to what they create, but freedom of expression and free flow of information are also precious commodities. What is certain is that the conflicts between these two sets of interests will grow and evolve over time. Nevertheless, without some omnipotent wizard to wave a magic wand and create definitive and permanent rules for what constitutes Fair Use in a changing world, the courts and the rest of us will simply have to muggle through. --BookReview.com

About the Author
Robert S. Want is an attorney and editor. He is publisher of NationsCourts.com, which reports on new cases in copyright and other areas of the law.