Claim: Author J.K. Rowling promoted a website selling transphobic merchandise.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series
text: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction". In November 2007, "The Scotsman" reported that Rowling had threatened legal action against American computer programmer G. Norman Lippert for allegedly violating her intellectual property rights by producing and publishing the online novel, "James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing", an unofficial and unauthorised continuation of the "Harry Potter" series. Written as a fan fiction project for Lippert's wife and sons, the novel is set eighteen years after the end of the last official installment in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", and describes the adventures of Harry Potter's son,

title: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books
text: affirmative defense of fair use. The trial was held from 14–17 April 2008 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. In September 2008, the court ruled in Rowling's favor, and publication of the book was blocked. In 2009, RDR Books released an edited volume, eliminating the problematic long quotes found to be infringing. In 2000, Steve Vander Ark, a librarian from Grand Rapids, Michigan, created the Harry Potter Lexicon, an online encyclopedia of the Harry Potter book series that collected and reorganized various facts from the novels into a searchable form. The Lexicon, which

title: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books
text: is non-profit, with only its operations paid for by advertising, quickly became a favorite for fans of the books, including Rowling herself, who claimed on her website that "I have been known to sneak into an internet cafe while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of "Harry Potter", which is embarrassing." In August 2007, Vander Ark was contacted by Roger Rapoport, President of RDR Books, and asked about the possibility of publishing a for-profit print version of the site. Although Vander Ark had previously claimed he had no interest in

title: Politics of J. K. Rowling
text: opposition to Mexico City Policy, when it was reinstated by Donald Trump, and said that she supported abortion rights, specially in Third World countries. Politics of J. K. Rowling British author J. K. Rowling is a noted philanthropist and maintains links on her website promoting Amnesty International, the Multiple sclerosis Society, One Parent Families, and Lumos (formerly the Children's High Level Group), which Rowling co-founded to advocate against the use of cage beds for mentally handicapped children. Rowling says her heroine is muckraker Jessica Mitford, whom Rowling describes as a "self-taught socialist". Rowling acknowledges being left-wing and said "there is

title: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books
text: plans to give to charity. A judge later barred publication of the book in any form until the case was resolved. In their suit, Rowling's lawyers also asserted that, as the book describes itself as a print facsimile of the Harry Potter Lexicon website, it would publish excerpts from the novels and stills from the films without offering sufficient "transformative" material to be considered a separate work. On her website, Rowling said, "Despite repeated requests, the publishers have refused to even countenance making any changes to the book to ensure that it does not infringe my rights." On his website,

title: Melissa Anelli
text: was receiving over 500,000 hits per day. By November 2008, largely under Anelli's influence, the site became the second most popular English-language "Harry Potter" fansite, with over 1 million hits per day. In 2002, "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling announced that she would release a single index card containing 93 words that were clues to the content of the unreleased fifth novel in the series, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". The index card would be auctioned, with all proceeds benefitting Book Aid International. Anelli organized a campaign to have fans combine their money to purchase the card.

title: Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series
text: October 2007, Warner Bros. and Rowling sued Michigan-based publishing firm RDR Books to block the publication of a 400-page book version of the Harry Potter Lexicon, an online reference guide to her work. Rowling, who previously had a good relationship with Lexicon owner Steve Vander Ark, reiterated on her website that she plans to write a "Harry Potter" encyclopedia, and that the publication of a similar book before her own would hurt the proceeds of the official encyclopedia, which she plans to give to charity. A judge later barred publication of the book in any form until the case was

title: Albus Dumbledore
text: behaviour of his character and his relationship with Grindelwald. Thomas notes the skill Rowling displays in writing a gay character without having to put a gay label on him. Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell stated that "It's good that children's literature includes the reality of gay people, since we exist in every society. But I am disappointed that she did not make Dumbledore's sexuality explicit in the Harry Potter book. Making it obvious would have sent a much more powerful message of understanding and acceptance." A spokesperson for Stonewall praised Rowling, saying "It's great that JK has said this. It

title: Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series
text: The case was settled out of court. Also in 2003, courts in the Netherlands prevented the distribution of a Dutch translation of "Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass", the first of Dmitri Yemets' popular Russian series about a female apprentice wizard. Rowling and her publishers sued, arguing that the Grotter books violate copyright law. Yemets and his original Moscow-based publishers, Eksmo, argued that the books constitute a parody, permitted under copyright. The Dutch courts ruled that the books did not constitute parody and thus were not allowed to be sold in the Netherlands. Later that year, as the Dutch

title: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books
text: the media, Rowling responded favorably to the verdict: I took no pleasure at all in bringing legal action and am delighted that this issue has been resolved favorably. 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. Many books have been published which offer original insights into the world of Harry Potter. The Lexicon just is not one of them. The Stanford Law School fair use project,

title: Politics of J. K. Rowling
text: Politics of J. K. Rowling British author J. K. Rowling is a noted philanthropist and maintains links on her website promoting Amnesty International, the Multiple sclerosis Society, One Parent Families, and Lumos (formerly the Children's High Level Group), which Rowling co-founded to advocate against the use of cage beds for mentally handicapped children. Rowling says her heroine is muckraker Jessica Mitford, whom Rowling describes as a "self-taught socialist". Rowling acknowledges being left-wing and said "there is a certain amount of political stuff in [Harry Potter]. But I also feel that every reader will bring his own agenda to the book.

title: J. K. Rowling
text: of those without pure blood. On 22 October 2015 a letter was published in "The Guardian" signed by Rowling (along with over 150 other figures from arts and politics) opposing the cultural boycott of Israel, and announcing the creation of a network for dialogue, called Culture for Coexistence. Rowling later explained her position in more detail, saying that although she opposed most of Benjamin Netanyahu's actions she did not think the cultural boycott would bring about the removal of Israel's leader or help improve the situation in Israel and Palestine. In June 2016, Rowling campaigned against the Referendum to leave

title: MuggleNet
text: such as OMG Facts, GivesMeHope, and LoveGivesMeHope through his company, Spartz Media. MuggleNet benefits from friendly relations with J.K. Rowling, the author of the "Harry Potter" books, and the producers of the films. She has praised MuggleNet on her website and has awarded it her Fan Site Award. Rowling recounts on her website that she occasionally visits the site and sometimes reads the comments left by visitors although never comments herself. The author also stated that she visited the site's chat room and was snubbed when she anonymously joined in a conversation about "Harry Potter" theories. In July 2005, Rowling

title: The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter
text: in March 2001 and hired a company to take care of accounting, marketing, promotion, and selling. Colbert has never met Rowling and the book has not been approved by her or Warner Brothers (the owner of the film rights to the "Harry Potter" novels). He was given permission to publish it as long as he noted on the cover that it had not been approved by Rowling. The book has been met with positive reactions from critics. Margie Thomson of "The New Zealand Herald" commented that "it's interesting, although light, and should keep smart-alecky kids and the truly curious happy

title: Politics of Harry Potter
text: word" because "we all know gay people, whether we know it or not." O'Reilly continued the following day saying that the real problem is Rowling is teaching "tolerance" and "parity for homosexuals with heterosexuals". His guest Dennis Miller said that tolerance was good and didn't think you could indoctrinate a child into being gay. Zenit, a news agency dedicated to promoting the message of the Catholic Church, accused Rowling of betraying her readers by disclosing Dumbledore's sexuality, and said Rowling is the wealthiest woman in Britain thanks to the lack of political, social or moral propaganda in her books. The

title: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books
text: York trial attorney, David Hammer. Ms. Hasse then asked a group of intellectual property lawyers at Stanford Law School to help defend RDR Books' right to publish. Fair Use Project Executive Director Anthony Falzone said the Lexicon is protected by U.S. law which has long given people "the right to create reference guides that discuss literary works, comment on them and make them more accessible." On 16 January 2008, Rowling and Warner Bros. filed their full 1,100 page complaint against RDR Books, claiming that the book compiles and repackages Ms. Rowling's fictional facts derived wholesale from the Harry Potter works

title: J. K. Rowling
text: and MEP Emma Nicholson founded the Children's High Level Group (now Lumos). In January 2006, Rowling went to Bucharest to highlight the use of caged beds in mental institutions for children. To further support the CHLG, Rowling auctioned one of seven handwritten and illustrated copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", a series of fairy tales referred to in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". The book was purchased for £1.95 million by online bookseller Amazon.com on 13 December 2007, becoming the most expensive modern book ever sold at auction. Rowling gave away the remaining six copies to those

title: Politics of J. K. Rowling
text: witchcraft". This was claimed by Matt Latimer, a former speechwriter for Bush, who went on to write a memoir about his time in the administration, although then First Lady Laura Bush had declared a fondness for the books. Rowling made analogies between Donald Trump and Voldemort after the Republican presidential candidate called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States on 7 December 2015. In January 2017 she rebutted with "lonely virgin" in response to criticism from a Trump supporter. Her employment at Amnesty International made Rowling realise that "imagination is what allows us to empathise with people who

title: The Harry Potter Lexicon
text: and was accepted by author J. K. Rowling as conforming to her works. The Lexicon is a winner of J. K. Rowling's Fan Site Award. Rowling said: On October 31, 2007, J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers filed a lawsuit against RDR Books over the publication of Vander Ark's Lexicon in book form. The lawsuit was heard in a New York court on April 14, 2008. Whilst some sources refer to Vander Ark being sued, the lawsuit actually names only RDR Books. The lawsuit states, The result of the lawsuit was that the book could be published, but not in its

title: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books
text: Harry Potter world. That's quite a huge power grab on her part and from everything I can tell, not legal. You and I are part of a subculture that lives off the creative work of others. We always try to do that in a legal and respectful way. However, if Rowling manages to extend her reach that far into our subculture, she will choke us off very quickly. And if she doesn't, what's to stop the next person from taking this legal precedent to even more dangerous places? On 8 February 2008, RDR Books published their official memorandum in response