Rowling slams Potter book

New York: J.K. Rowling has told a court in New York that a new Harry Potter encyclopedia amounts to “wholesale theft'' of nearly 20 years of her hard work.

Rowling was giving evidence in a lawsuit to block publication of Steven Vander Ark's ''Harry Potter Lexicon.'' She sued Michigan-based RDR Books last year to stop publication of the book, claiming copyright infringement.

Vander Ark runs the popular Harry Potter Lexicon Web site and wants to release a print version.

Rowling said she has started work on her own encyclopedia and plans to donate the profits to charity.