A Harry Potter fan creates a “Lexicon” (a type of encyclopedia or companion book) for the famous literary series by J.K. Rowling. Is such a work a “transformative” new work, and therefore a “fair use” of the copyrighted series, or is it a “derivative” work, and therefore under the exclusive control of the copyright owner? In the case of the Harry Potter Lexicon, a District Court in New York ruled that the work contained too much copying and not enough transformation to be a “fair use” of Rowling’s books. An appeal is pending. A comprehensive look at the Court’s opinion can be found here:
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080909014304275
–Matt
