LISNews: Librarian News

The Sun said Maryland contains or recently contained many residents who share names with characters from the Harry Potter novels, including at least three men sharing the titular wizard's name, 16 women named Hermione, 3 men named Sirius, 13 Snapes and 15 Narcissas.

"Each time another book or movie comes out, the phone rings off the hook for about two months," Potter said. "It does get tiring. I'm seriously thinking of changing my listing in the phone book to 'H. Potter.'"

The worm has turned for author J. K. Rowling. Now she's been accused of plagiarism.

"The allegations of plagiarism made today, Monday 15 June 2009, by the Estate of Adrian Jacobs are unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue," said a statement from Bloomsbury, which publishes Harry Potter in Britain.

"This claim is without merit and will be defended vigorously."

In an earlier statement, Jacobs' estate said that it had issued proceedings at London's High Court against Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for copyright infringement.

"The Estate is also seeking a court order against J.K. Rowling herself for pre-action disclosure in order to determine whether to join her as a defendant to the ... action," the statement read.

It named the estate's trustee as Paul Allen, and said that Rowling had copied "substantial parts" of "The Adventures of Willy the Wizard -- No 1 Livid Land" written by Jacobs in 1987. Reuters (Canada) reports.

The Beedle the Bard collectors edition was limited to 100,00 copies. Over Christmas the book sold out. On the second hand market the price spiked to $300 and $400 dollars. Amazon held back some copies so that if copies were damaged in transit they had replacements. Amazon has listed these held back copies and the price is back down to $100.

The cover of "The Lexicon" speaks volumes about the lengths to which a West Michigan author and his Muskegon publisher have gone to get the comprehensive guide of the Harry Potter book series into the hands of readers. The subject of a lengthy, groundbreaking legal battle with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, the soon-to-be-published lexicon has a cover that appears to be one big nod to copyright.

"An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction and Related Materials" appears boldly below "The Lexicon" title and above author Steve Vander Ark's name. A full paragraph on the otherwise sparse cover further details the fact that neither Rowling nor a host of others with trademarks and other interests in the Harry Potter series had any part in the book.

Publisher Roger Rapaport, author Steve Vander Ark and their team of lawyers -- including Craig Monette of Muskegon -- are confident this version of The Lexicon will pass legal muster. (The cover was negotiated by both sides to avoid a separate planned trademark lawsuit.) The book is set to be released on Jan. 12 in the United States and England. M Live, Publishers Weekly and the AP both tell the story of 'the book that must be published'.