Revised unathorised Potter encyclopaedia to go on sale

A new version of the Harry Potter encyclopaedia which brought multi-millionaire author JK Rowling to the verge of tears will go on sale in the UK later this month.

The 43-year-old author of the boy wizard books took Harry Potter fan and author Steve Vander Ark to court over the 400-page Lexicon, which she said constituted “wholesale theft of 17 years of my hard work”.

A federal judge in New York ruled in Rowling’s favour over the copyright-infringement lawsuit in September, permanently blocking the publication of the reference guide, but Mr Vander Ark and RDR Books will now publish a revised edition.

Mr Vander Ark, a 50-year-old former school librarian who launched The Harry Potter Lexicon web site in 2000, said he spent five or six months working on the new version, which he said meets specifications laid out in the ruling by US District Judge Robert P Patterson.

It also includes information revealed during the three-day court hearing in April.

“We learned a lot at the trial about what was acceptable, what would follow the fair use guidelines,” said Mr Vander Ark, of Michigan.

“That was not clear before. There was no law on the books that made it clear what was acceptable and what wasn’t.

“So, coming out of the trial, I had a much better idea of what should go into the book.”

Asked during the trial what her seven-book series meant to her, Rowling, who asked for a glass of water to regain her composure, said: “I really don’t want to cry because I’m British. It means setting aside my children and everything.

“These characters meant so much to me, and continue to mean so much to me, over such a long period of time.

“It’s very difficult for someone who is not a writer to understand. The closest I can come is to say to someone, ’How do you feel about your child?’.”

She went on: “I believe this book constitutes wholesale theft of 17 years of my hard work.

“It adds little if anything by way of commentary; the quality of that commentary is derisory; and it debases what I worked so hard to create.”

Publisher Roger Rapoport said the biggest difference between the two versions was that the new one contains “a lot more critical commentary, which means more analysis”.

“It isn’t just saying what happens, it’s his interpretation of why it’s important,” Mr Rapoport said.

Plot spoilers have also been removed.

Neil Blair, a lawyer for Rowling’s agent the Christopher Little Literary Agency, said: “We are delighted that this matter is finally and favourably resolved and that JK Rowling’s rights and indeed the rights of all authors of creative works have been protected.

“We are also pleased to hear that rather than continue to litigate, RDR have themselves decided to publish a different book prepared with reference to Judge Patterson’s decision.”

Scott Rowe, a spokesman for Warner Bros who were also involved in the lawsuit against the Lexicon book, said they were also pleased that the matter had been resolved.

'The Lexicon: An Unauthorised Guide to Harry Potter Fiction and Related Materials' will go on sale in the UK on January 16, priced £18.99 (€19.99), and Mr Vander Ark will begin a UK tour on February 2.