The Power of Potter: an illustration of the use of law as a weapon in the hands of a successful author and its inevitable influence on the development of sequels and parodies

The aims of copyright law are manifold. When used as a weapon by an author, it serves to protect his rights in his creation. Through an analysis of Utilitarian and Natural Rights theories, it can however be seen that the broader goals underpinning copyright law lie essentially in the Encouragement of Learning; by this it means that copyright encourages the creation of new works for the overall benefit of society, not necessarily through an expansionist view of copyright, but limiting the rights of the author. This issue is reflected only too keenly in infringement action against secondary authors of sequels and parodies. The many recent cases involving the Harry Potter books are a good example of a hugely successful author exercising her legal rights to the detriment of literature, learning and scholarship and specifically, to the future development and existence of valuable literary forms such as sequels and parodies.