J. K. Rowling to Fair Use: "Avada cadavra!"

A federal judge on Monday ruled against a Web site operator who was seeking to publish an encyclopedia about the Harry Potter series of novels, blocking publication of "The Harry Potter Lexicon" after concluding that it would cause author J.K. Rowling "irreparable injury (CNN)."

How anyone could claim to own a copyright on the facts related to the characters in a book is beyond me.  Many series have benefited from these types of books: Star Trek, Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and oh, that's right, Harry "freaking" Potter!

Between each of the seven  books, a cottage industry of books speculating on the contents of the following books.  They would recap the events of the books that had already been published, and pontifficate on the most minutia of each character's life in hopes they could divine the content of the next.

This is all about money.  Rowling wants to write one of these reference books and either fears the competition from a fan work, or in a shocking level of disdain for the culture, believes that she owns her stories completely and will fight tooth and nail to keep them from becoming a part of the cultural fabric that requires fair use rights.