It seems that having over-zealous fans can be the reason of headaches and court dates. J.K. Rowling is in the spotlight again and she is none too happy about it.

She appeared in court Monday to speak out against a print version of a fan's Web site. A small Michigan publisher, RDR Books, was in the process of collaborating with the creator of this work called "The Harry Potter Lexicon."

Steven Vander Ark, the would-be author of this Harry Potter encyclopedia, is a school librarian who started this Website which has attracted millions of readers, as well as received praise from J.K. Rawling herself.

While she has used the site before to refresh her memory while in the midst of writing her books, she draws the line at someone else profitting from her life's work. She argues that this book will be nothing but a compilation of her work, with no attribution (or quotation marks) to her. What little will not be a regurgitated copy she finds to be "sloppy"and "lazy" and the Lexicon manuscript was "riddled with errors" and "derivative." Besides, she has planned to put together an encyclopedia for her fans; she feels she owes it to them.

Vander Ark says that his collection of information about the Harry Potter series would be filled with original work. "It would bring about insight into personalities of key characters, relationships among them, meanings of historical and literary allusions, and it would point out inconsisitencies and mistakes in the novels."

An attorney for RDR Books and executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford Law is arguing that "For hundreds of years, everybody has agreed that folks are free to write companion guides."

I must say that I tend to agree with J.K. Rowling. I think that I would be EXTREMELY protective of my work given the same situation. This series is probably like a child to her; she did go through many, many trials and tribulations to create the world of Harry Potter and friends.

She has a right to be protective of her life's endeavor. The aren't too many laws that are used to govern what goes on the Internet, and many fans have taken advantage of that. Some could even be making money from their websites. This, however, would move to the copyright world if it were to be put into print, and that would move onto a whole other playing field.

Besides, I think I would want to read an encyclopedia, or anything comparable to it, that came straight from the creator of this world. Who better to give explanations than J.K. Rowlings herself?