Unofficial Harry Potter Encyclopaedia - JK Rowling Upset Amid Claims Series As Addictive As Drugs
Last July I told you about JK Rowling’s plans for a possible eighth book in the hugely popular Harry Potter series.
Now before anyone gets their hopes up, we’re not talking a new fictional work to carry on the series where The Deathly Hallows left off, but rather an encyclopaedia full of fascinating facts and undiscovered details about the Harry Potter universe and the characters which reside within it.
Unfortunately it seems that someone has beaten her to it, and in an attempt to gain fame and fortune, is trying to publish an unofficial reference book about everything Harry Potter.
Writer Steve Vander Ark and publisher RDR Books have plans to release an encyclopaedia of their own, which is obviously being fought with legal action by Rowling. She said:
“I am very frustrated that a former fan has tried to co-opt my work for financial gain. I believe that RDR’s book constitutes a Harry Potter rip-off of the type I have spent years trying to prevent,”
“Both I, as the creator of this world, and fans of Harry Potter would be exploited by its publication.
“I feel intensely protective, firstly of the literary world I spent so long creating, and secondly, of the fans who bought my books in such large numbers.”
And of course the money that you’d lose if this book came out without your permission. Rowling is perfectly right though, because this book, titled Harry Potter Lexicon, would be using her work, and the characters she spent so long giving life to, without any guarantees of accuracy.
The book was due for release last November but publication was delayed after Rowling sought an injunction. A legal case will now follow, and a decision made as to whether the book is lawful or not.
Meanwhile, a scientist has described the Harry Potter series as nearly as addictive as drugs.
Dr Jeffrey Rudski revealed that one in ten Potter fans were experiencing withdrawal symptoms after the book series came to an end with the release of The Deathly Hallows last year.
He polled 4,000 fans, and found that many were spending up to four hours a day on Potter related activities. He commented:
“Addiction to a drug is no different to an addiction to Harry Potter.”
I’m not sure about four hours a day, but even I, as a thirty year old adult was gutted to come to the end of a series of books which has been such a part of our culture for the last ten years.
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:39 am
I enjoyed this article. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and think that J.K. should be allowed to publish the only HP encyclopedia. I’m a writer and believe she spent way too much time creating this fantasy world that no one else knows it better than she does.