UPDATE: The Guardian has a photo of JK Rowling arriving in court this morning. Also, Newsday has an article from the start of the trial. UPDATE 2: The New York Times has a new article taking a look at the whole trial, including a quote from MuggleNet staff member Ben Schoen. They also have a picture of Jo entering court, which can be viewed here. As we told you late last month, the court trial between JK Rowling and RDR Books over The Harry Potter Lexicon will begin Monday morning. The Associated Press has a new article about it and specifically talks about plans for Jo: Rowling is scheduled to testify Monday in a trial that is sure to generate huge interest among Harry Potter fans and the public. Her lawyer has arranged with the judge to have a private security guard for Rowling in the courtroom and for the author to spend breaks in the seclusion of a jury room — away from any die-hard Potter fans in attendance. We'll continue to provide updates on the case this week when available. Thanks to Remi for the tip! We wish Jo the best of luck in court today.

The Wall Street Journal has updated their blog again, this time talking about developments that occurred in court this morning. But the most telling part of Vander Ark’s testimony came at the end of Hammer’s direct examination. Asked whether he still considered himself a part of the Harry Potter fan community — those that, in Vander Ark’s words, devote most of their free time to all things Potter, he choked up, and said, “I did.” But then, when pressed on it, he changed his answer. “I do,” he said, breaking up. USA today further reports Van Der Ark as saying, "It's been ... it's been," he stammered, choking on his words. "It's been difficult because there has been a lot of criticism, obviously, and that was never the intention. ... This has been an important part of my life for the last nine years or so."

Towards the end of today's cross examination, Judge Robert Patterson stopped the testimony to question the trial as a whole. From the Wall Street Journal: Judge Patterson removed his glasses and addressed the court. “I’m concerned that this case is more lawyer-driven than it is client-driven,” he lamented. “The fair use people are on one side, and a large company is on the other side. . . . The parties ought to see if there’s not a way to work this out, because there are strong issues in this case and it could come out one way or the other. The fair use doctrine is not clear.” The Fair Use Doctrine is a United States Law, defined accurately by Wikipedia as allowing "limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review." You can read more of what happened at today's trial concerning Lexicon author Steve Van Der Ark here. The trial has ended for the day and will continue into tomorrow and Thursday.

The following statement was recently released by a spokesperson on behalf of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment after the conclusion of yesterday's court proceedings: "A fan's affectionate enthusiasm should not obscure acts of plagiarism. The publishers knew what they were doing. The problem remains that the Lexicon takes an enormous amount of Ms. Rowling's work and adds virtually no original commentary of its own. As we've said in court, it takes too much and adds too little. Authors have a duty to prevent the exploitation of their works by people who contribute nothing original, creative or interpretive."

Day 3 of the JK Rowling/Warner Brothers VS RDR Books trial commenced today, and continues to spiral into one big mess of ordeals. Highlights from today, before lunch break: - Lawyers for JKR/WB and RDR told the judge this morning that they reached a settlement on the false advertising and deceptive trade practices claims. You may remember yesterday that the judge suggested a settlement instead of a lawsuit. A representative for RDR also told the court that they hope to settle on the trademark infringement and unfair competition claims. Once that is out of the way, this just leaves the big copyright infringement claims left. - Janet Sorensen, a professor of 18th and early 19th century English literature at U.C. Berkeley, was called to the stand today by RDR where she spoke of other fantasy works that also have companion guides to help the reader understand the content of the story. - Judge Patterson was quoted as saying, "I think this case, with imagination, could be settled....But don't throw anything out because of my desire to move ahead." He suspects the case will be appealed, and that it could go all the way to the Supreme Court, taking years to resolve. Read much more at The Wall Street Journal and MSNBC. We'll continue to keep you updated!

The second half of today's proceedings ended with a strong closing statement, according to the latest entry from The Wall Street Journal. JK Rowling also took the stand one final time, and it's clearer than ever that Judge Patterson believes each side has a strong case: Maybe I Need a Reference Guide for This Case: That was Judge Patterson’s commentary at the close of testimony. Again, he urged the parties to consider settlement, reminding them that fair use is a “murky area” of law. Hammer then requested the opportunity to make a closing statement, which was a good call because his co-counsel, Anthony Falzone, delivered a strong one.

On this week’s episode of our Harry Potter podcast we take an in-depth look at the ongoing trial involving J.K. Rowling and RDR Books. Join Eric, Laura, Micah, Elysa and I as we have one of the more serious discussions in our three years of podcasting (but don't worry, we still have fun). - The trial was very emotional for both Jo and Steve but did it have to get to this point? - We review testimony given and comments made by both sides and offer our thoughts. - Breaking down the "fair use" doctrine, we try and get inside the head of Judge Patterson. - Which of the four categories of fair use would go in Jo or Steve's favor? - The negative impact this could have on the Harry Potter fandom and the "floodgates" that could open. - Elysa brings up a few previous court cases that have dealt with the "fair use" doctrine and the precedents set seem to favor J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. (Harper and Roe Publishers vs. Nation Enterprises). - Make the Music Connection provides some laughter after a very serious episode. All that and much more discussion can be found on this week’s episode! To download, we recommend subscribing for free through either Apple iTunes (press Subscribe once you're there) or the ZUNE Marketplace. If you are already subscribed, just refresh your feed. You can also find full shownotes and alternate download links at the MuggleCast website.

Complete transcripts from the JK Rowling/Warner Bros. court case against RDR Books/HP Lexicon are now available. Click here for day one (April 14th), here for day two (April 15th), and here for day three (April 16th). Thanks to Stanford Law School.

As most of you know by now, JK Rowling and Warner Bros. are currently involved in a court case against RDR Books and the HP Lexicon regarding a print version of the online Lexicon. Some of Jo's main reasons for taking legal action against this book are that she feels it is in breach of copyright of the Harry Potter novels, is not worthwhile to the reader (in that it provides very little commentary, most of which is "derisory" and "facetious"), and that it could detrimentally affect sales of an all-inclusive encyclopedia which she has long expressed a desire to write and from which sales revenue would be donated to charity. MuggleNet fully supports Jo Rowling in this case. This week will be, without a doubt, difficult and emotional for the author who has spent 17 years creating the series we all love so much. Because of this, we feel that with as much support as possible, this time can be made more bearable for her. Please feel free to leave any messages of support in the comments, which we will link to from the main page until a verdict on this case is reached. Thank you. "I really don't want to cry because I'm British. These books, they saved me, not just in the very obvious material sense, although they did do that...I would have to say that there was a time when they saved my sanity." JK Rowling, April 14th

It's been a couple weeks since we've updated you on the JK Rowling VS RDR court trial. The trial itself occurred from April 14th - 16th, and at this point we are just waiting for the judge's final decision on the copyright infringement claims by JKR/WB. The Chicago Tribune recently spoke to RDR owner Roger Rapoport, who sheds some new light on their decision to turn the HP Lexicon into a book: The publisher did not know of Vander Ark's Lexicon Web site until he saw a newspaper profile of the Webmaster last July. A month later, Vander Ark agreed to put together a print version with the help of three of the site's other editors. The plan was to print 10,000 copies. "I couldn't understand why this book hadn't been published yet," he said. After all, Rowling herself had endorsed the Web site in 2004, giving it an award as "a great site" which, while writing, she occasionally used to check facts from her earlier books. Little did Rapoport envision that, at the trial, Rowling would dismiss the manuscript of the printed Lexicon as "sloppy." For the full interview, click here! Thanks to Jonathan for the tip!

After this morning's JKR VS RDR verdict in New York City, we received official statements from Warner Brothers and JK Rowling. Now, we have a statement from RDR Books, who was to be the publisher of the Harry Potter Lexicon: "We are encouraged by the fact the Court recognized that as a general matter authors do not have the right to stop the publication of reference guides and companion books about literary works. As for the Lexicon, we are obviously disappointed with the result, and RDR is considering all of its options." The full text of the trial decision is also now online. It notes that RDR has to pay statutory damages of $750 for each of the seven Potter books as well as Fantastic Beasts and Quidditch Through the Ages. That brings it to a total of $6,750.

We've received statements from Jo and Warner Brothers about today's verdict. Both of who have been battling this case since October 31st. From Jo: “I took no pleasure at all in bringing legal action and am delighted that this issue has been resolved favourably,” said J.K. Rowling. “I went to court to uphold the right of authors everywhere to protect their own original work. The court has upheld that right. The proposed book took an enormous amount of my work and added virtually no original commentary of its own. Now the court has ordered that it must not be published. Many books have been published which offer original insights into the world of Harry Potter. The Lexicon just is not one of them.” From Warner Brothers: "We are obviously pleased with today’s ruling by Judge Patterson supporting the position that the proposed lexicon book infringes on Ms. Rowling’s rights. As a content company, it is imperative that we work vigorously on all fronts to protect the intellectual property rights of those who create the stories and characters, words, pictures and music that entertain and benefit the worldwide audience."

HPANA is reporting that the judge on the JKR/WB vs. RDR Books trial has reached a verdict. The verdict is in favor of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Thanks to MuggleNet reader Rashmi for the tip-off, and our friend Jeff at HPANA for the news. We'll keep you posted with further developments in the aftermath of this prolonged case.

The Grand Rapids Press has spoken with the author of The Harry Potter Lexicon, which just yesterday had its publication halted by a New York City judge. Vander Ark's thoughts after hearing the verdict: "I've always been a fan of Harry Potter and of Rowling and my hope all along was that we'd find an amicable way to settle this. I'm disappointed, but this is the way it went and I don't hold any ill will at all. It was a question of law over a difference of opinion and, in a way, I'm glad that it's finally over." The newspaper notes that Vander Ark is currently in England where he's working on a new book which visits real-life locations placed in the Potter series. You can also view other verdict statements at these links: JKR and WB | RDR Books

The Detroit Free Press is reporting this morning that a notice of appeal will be filed by attorneys on behalf of Roger Rapoport and Steve Vander Ark in an attempt at "preserving the men's right to continue the legal battle for their Harry Potter book." As reported last week, Judge Patterson ruled in favor of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers stating that The Lexicon takes too much from Rowling's work. Rapoport and Vander Ark are looking into editing the current edition of the book. No statement has been issued by either J.K. Rowling or Warner Brothers at this time.

The attorney for JK Rowling during her case against RDR Books will be speaking at Harvard University this Thursday (November 6th) at 12:15. The discussion about the case will run for 45 minutes in Pound 201. Thanks to Christina for the tip!

With all the news concerning The Tales of Beedle the Bard there have been a few other things of note going on: - Alan Rickman, who plays Severus Snape in the Potter series appeared Wednesday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He also did an interview with SciFi.com where he discussed his filming schedule and the impact of the final film: "Well, it'll be a big finish, won't it? That's true, and appropriately. You can feel it now, the size of the undertaking." The online magazine also got a hold of producer David Heyman where he discussed the delay of the sixth film and the impact of the decision to split Deathly Hallows. - On Thursday, RDR Books officially withdrew its appeal of U.S. District Judge Patterson's decision to publish an unauthorized companion novel to the Potter series. J.K. Rowling's public relations agency issued the following statement: "We are delighted that this matter is finally and favorably resolved and that J.K. Rowling's rights -- and indeed the rights of all authors of creative works -- have been protected," the statement said. "We are also pleased to hear that rather than continue to litigate, RDR have themselves decided to publish a different book prepared with reference to Judge Patterson's decision." The Muskegon Chronicle goes on to say that in the new book the words "An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction and Related Materials" appears boldly below "The Lexicon" title and above author Steve Vander Ark's name. There is further explanation that neither Rowling nor a host of others with trademarks and other interests in the Harry Potter series had any part in the book. - Finally, USA Today has written up a preview of ABC Family's Potter weekend which begins tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can expect to see deleted scenes from Goblet of Fire as well as a look into Half-Blood Prince. The paper quotes producer David Heyman on the sixth film: "It's different than the other films. It's not the non-stop action that some of the others are, although there is some action. It's more of an emotional film."