JK Rowling told to 'settle case out of court'

HARRY Potter author JK Rowling and a publisher she accuses of stealing her copyright have been advised to settle the dispute out of court by a judge.

Judge Robert Patterson said the case was a legal close call, involving unresolved areas of American law, and was almost certain to end in years of appeals.

"I think this case, with imagination, could be settled," he said yesterday, on the third day of the trial in Manhattan federal court.

Lawyers for Rowling and Warner Brothers, which holds intellectual property rights to the Potter books and films, claim RDR Books has produced an unauthorised guide to Harry's world.

RDR's lawyer said she still planned to call Rowling to the stand for a second time later in the trial.

It has so far featured two days of emotional testimony, first by Rowling, then by the fan who wrote the guide, former school librarian Steven Vander Ark.

The guide is a print version of a website created by Vander Ark.