Judge Wants Settlement in Rowling Copyright Case

Posted on April 16, 2008

The judge in the copyright infringement case over the Harry Potter fansite/proposed book wants the parties to come to a settlement. The AP quotes U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson Jr. as saying on the day three of the trial, "I think this case, with imagination, could be settled."

Now generally we are all for cases settling out of court when appropriate, but the judge's comments really took us by surprise. This isn't some wrongful death suit where the parties simply hash out a fair number to pay the victim's family. This is pretty much all or nothing: either the book is allowed to be published or it isn't. Either the proposed work violates Rowling's copyright, or it doesn't.

An important issue of copyright law is at stake here: we see no way to settle the case. And what does he mean by "imagination"? Is J.K. Rowling supposed to pay the fan not to publish his book, thereby paving the way for a multitude of these books (and future settlement payments) to appear? Or does the judge want the fan to agree not to publish the book and everybody just goes home? One thing's for sure. Regardless of the verdict, this one is headed straight to the appellate court.