J.K. Rowling testified in a New York court today and she was nearly moved to tears as she described how much Harry Potter and the books means to her.
Rowling testified as a result of a joint lawsuit brought by her estate and Warner Brothers (the films' producers) against RDR Books to stop the publication of "The Harry Potter Lexicon," a reference book culled from thousands of pages of information posted on HP-Lexicon.org.
"I really don't want to cry, because I'm British. ... These characters meant so much to me, and continue to mean so much to me, over such a long period of time," Rowling was quoted as saying under oath. "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?' "
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"I believe this book constitutes wholesale theft of 17 years of my hard work. It adds little if anything by way of commentary ... and it debases what I worked so hard to create," she said in court.
If the judge allows for the "Lexicon" to be published, Rowling thinks it will have longstanding effects on the relationship between authors and their biggest Internet fans.
"If RDR's position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine fans on the Internet," she wrote in a pretrial statement to the court. "Authors everywhere will be forced to protect their creations much more rigorously."
The trial is expected to end this week, but it may awhile until a verdict is reached. It's an important case that publishers and authors are watching carefully.
