Suit Claiming Copyright Infringement Against Bloomsbury Adds J. K. Rowling as Defendant; JKR "Saddened" by Claim
J.K. Rowling
Posted by: Edward
February 17, 2010, 03:07 PM
Bloomberg is reporting that Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling has been added as a defendant in a plagiarism lawsuit against UK Harry Potter book publisher Bloomsbury we first reported last summer. As readers will recall, the suit, filed by the estate of late children's author Adrian Jacobs, claimed that "JK Rowling copied substantial parts of the work of the late Adrian Jacobs, The Adventures of Willy the Wizard-No 1 Livid Land, and that Bloomsbury in selling the books have infringed the Estate's copyright." Today, the estate included J. K. Rowling as a defendant in that suit, after, as the estate claims, "discovering legal cause of action against her within the last six years."
J. K. Rowling has released the following statement through her spokesman:
"I am saddened that yet another claim has been made that I have taken material from another source to write Harry. The fact is I had never heard of the author or the book before the first accusation by those connected to the author’s estate in 2004; I have certainly never read the book. The claims that are made are not only unfounded but absurd and I am disappointed that I, and my U.K. publisher Bloomsbury, are put in a position to have to defend ourselves."
112 Comments
1067 Points
So sad. Poor JK Rowling! It sucks that people try to attack her and get her money. Geez! What a waste of everyone’s time.
1120 Points
She said it: ABSURD.
3031 Points
Poor Jo!!! I believe her she is she a remarkable person i would never believe it
594 Points
This is absurd. Poor Jo. :(
80 Points
I would like to say that every book in the english language. They all have words and sentences used by me . EXamples, Moby Dick, all of the sherlock homes mistorys. If I were her every person at blumbgerg would have a broken leg by the end of the day. Beceaut they did not send this nut to the Artic with a small baithing towel to keep him warn,
Ridiculous. why do people do this when clearly it is not true, they are just attacking her for cash. Show your support for Jo by voting HP http://tweeter.faxo.com/Harry_Potter_vs_Twilight
1338 Points
i cant believe people would want money so much that they would stoop to this level. im sorry JKR that you have to deal with people like them..
2182 Points
People will do anything for money. This is so stupid…
334 Points
Yawn. What would happen if he got no response? swings and roundabouts…
They know they won’t win the case – but they also know that this is an efficient way to bring attention to their book ….
660 Points
This is ridiculous. I went to my library website to find information about “Willy”. Not there, and we live in one of the most populated counties in the US. So, I hit Amazon and find that this story is a 36 page children’s book written in 1987. Really? The US standard editions of HP have 4175 pages and we are to believe that Ms. Rowling gleened all of this information from a 36 page children’s book that she allegedly read as a young adult prior to the time that she actually had children of her own. Honestly?
2400 Points
Nargles! That stupid book again!
This is getting very old. <<
190 Points
I can’t beleive this! What did she ever do to you? The crazy things people do! I havn’t heard of any book like that!
Sigh, very very deep sigh.
After the great conclusion of the HP series, I expected that nobody would get it into their heads to sue Jo for plagiarism, anymore. I mean, something like this series, the storylines, the characters, the climax, nobody has ever thought up something like that before. Alright, there were things that weren’t new, but they were details, some name coincedence, but mostly from mythology and folklore, with a twist. In other words, nice things with a wink to the reader who recognized them and to the others, a friendly encouragement to check them out.
Sorry, back to the topic.
I understand it sucks when you have written a book with certain elements and someone else has used some of the same things, and then gets very successful. But come on! This happens. Ideas are floating in the air, I suppose. Around the time, Jo started writing about Harry, I wrote a little story about a witch. Mine wasn’t published though, and in quality it doesn’t match up to even
the least chapter in the HP series.
Sorry. This is one every long post to say to the Estate of Mr Jacobs: CUT IT OUT ! Don’t drain this kind and great writer’s energy, and don’t waste her precious family- and writing time!
Mr Jacobs wrote maybe a nice book (I can’t judge, because I haven’t read it.) Be proud of him and his writing skills, and forget about the money that he didn’t get and Jo did. She worked hard for it. Remember, she wrote 7 books with intricate plotlines.
4565 Points
This is ridiculous and JK will likely be exhonerated, but still she shouldn’t have to go through this everytime someone decides to try and make some money off the Harry Potter franchise.
So sad. Poor JK Rowling! It sucks that people try to attack her and get her money. Geez! What a waste of everyone’s time.