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J.K. Rowling copyright suits go round and round
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Another famous author is in the news regarding plagiarism claims. While J.D. Salinger is suing J.D. California over what is essentially a sequel to the famed Catcher in the Rye, on Monday June 15, the estate of .jpg)
Adrian Jacobs officially claimed that J.K. Rowling copied "substantial parts" of The Adventures Of Willy The Wizard - No 1 Livid Land written in 1987 by the now deceased Adrian Jacobs. Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire is also a story of a wizard who travels on trains. Jacobs’ estate named Bloomsbury, Rowling’s publisher, as the defendant and is looking into whether or not to add Rowling to the suit. The estate is also seeking to either prevent further sales of Goblet of Fire or to share in the proceeds. Bloomsbury calls the claims “unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue.”
Rowling had also been sued for copyright infringement in 2000 by Nancy K. Stouffer who in 1984 wrote The Legend of Rah and the Muggles (which are tiny adult cartoon characters that resemble babies). Stouffer claimed ownership of the term muggle. Stouffer also claimed she wrote a book entitled Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly, and that Larry looked a lot like Harry, however courts ruled Stouffer had produced "falsified evidence." A copy of the original self-published book cannot be found.
On the flip side, Jiangsu Fine Arts Publishing House recently refuted claims that author Zhou Yiwen plagiarized parts of the Harry Potter series in his much anticipated children’s novel The Adventurous Prince to be released at the end of June. Chinese media pointed out the similar details and stated that Rowling was preparing to file lawsuits, although to date no notice of suit has been received by Jiangsu. Recall Rowlings plagiarism claim in 2008 against Steve Vander Ark’s Harry Potter Lexicon, an encyclopedia of sorts about the Potter series characters. Vander Ark claimed fair use, but lost his case.
Copyright infringement and plagiarism are taken seriously, but in the publishing world can be difficult to prove. Are there really any original ideas that have never been written down before? Do we remember every detail of all the books and papers we’ve read? Has one book caused a similar one to lose money or otherwise suffer? J.K. Rowling was not sure she would win the case against Harry Potter Lexicon. Stouffer still believes she has a case with the muggle term, although the word has been around since 1854 when Lewis Carroll gave the name to a character in his short story Wilhelm von Schmidtz and in the 1920’s the term referred to marijuana cigarettes. It has been noted on one Harry Potter website that the series includes details similar to other earlier books: Neil Gaiman’s comic book series Books of Magic, The Secret of Platform 13 by Iva Ibbotson, and Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones. Coincidence happens.
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