Author J.K. Rowling has won her case against the publishing house RDR and author Steve Vander Ark over the Harry Potter Lexicon. It was a case that had people contemplating copyrigt and fair use. Was Vander Ark's copy and pasting of information from the books, without attribution, covered in fair use? If the case went in JKR's favour would it be a blow to all reference books? The answer to both, as ruled by Judge Robert Patterson, is no.

Blogworld and message boards are abuzz with the news that the last Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is being split into two parts. Immediately I am suspicious of the motives behind this, as there are already more Harry Potter books in circulation than people on Earth. (Yes, I just made that fact up. But it sounds true, doesn't it?) They couldn't possibly be trying to shake more money out of their rapt muggle audience, could they?

You know the state of journalism has become serious when Harry Potter and his wizard brigades have to come to the rescue. But that's just what has happened -- the Harry Potter Alliance, a group that tries to "fight the Dark Arts in the real world," has created an online music campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of media consolidation. That's just one of the media trends to watch for in 2008.

At an event earlier late last week at Carnegie Hall, author J.K. Rowling announced that Albus Dumbledore, Hogwart's famed headmaster in the Harry Potter series, is gay. The announcement was greeted with cheers by fans. And it quickly hit the news sites even though the last book was released this past summer. It was picked up by Newsweek and The Washington Post. The Globe and Mail called it "the biggest outing in the entertainment industry since Ellen DeGeneres". The New York Times' The Lede posted on the "Blogospheric Reaction of the Outed Wizard".

It's festival time in India for the rest of the year. I am over 8,000 miles away from home, but my heart is in a flutter. It feels like I am right there, partaking in the myriad colors, sights, sounds and mantras of the season. Especially close to my heart are these five precious days (October 17-21) of Durga Puja – and the months of October and November -- when my native state of West Bengal will be seeped in celebrating the power of three Hindu Goddesses, namely Durga, Lakshmi and Kali.

A few years ago, when Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was fresh off the presses rather than in a theater near you, I read an inane op-ed piece in US News & World Report. The author protested the series, claiming that the books did not provide a good role model for girls and thus could not be feminist. Her reasoning: the main character was a boy. My jaw dropped in disbelief.

Disclaimer: This post does not contain spoilers. I have done my best to link to posts and items that do not contain spoilers however I cannot promise that comments in those posts follow that same spirit. Some links may contain mild spoilers. Click on links at your own risk. At the stroke of midnight on Saturday July 21 my cell phone alarm went off telling me that it was time to leave my apartment and join the hoards of Muggles trying to get their hands on the last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. On Friday I had found out that the small bookstore that I used to work in was having a Harry Potter party. Since it wasn't highly publicized I figured the lines would be shorter and boy was I correct. I was back in my apartment with two copies of of the book by 12:30. Score! Unlike most people I felt I was unable to dive into the book right away. My memory of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was very foggy and I felt I needed to reread it. So I kept plowing away at it, shutting off my light at 2am and turning it back on at 7am. At 9 I headed out the door to my favourite bakery and by 10 I was sitting down with a fresh cup of coffee, a chocolatine, and the very last Harry Potter book.