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
@Tarana: You can only vote once every 20 mins (you used to be able to do it twice, once normally and once by signing in to twitter, but they’ve changed it so it is only once every 20mins).
You make some good comments by the way
401 Points
What a pathetic excuse for a case…Like anyone’s going to beat J.K. Rowling, right? It’s not at all uncommon for tales of Magic to have a lot in common.
162 Points
Messed up, it is. JK Rowling would NEVER plagiarize. She’s too good of a person to fall to such lowly standards.
23696 Points
What an a…! Oh these people…
Who could possibly believe that J.K.Rowling didn’t write Harry on her own!? What is wrong with these people!?
246 Points
That’s unfair, Percy Jackson copied off Harry Potter, I don’t see a punishment for that.
2333 Points
Why that’s absurd!!!!! Of course Jo didn’t plagiarize! It’s just sad that someone as talented as her has to go through all of this mess
240 Points
As all of you have said, this is simply ridiculous.It’s too bad that things like this keep happening. I think it’s pretty obvious by now that Harry belongs to Jo, so it’s just stupid that she and Bloomsbury have to waste their time and energy in fighting this thing. As Jo said, it’s just absurd, and also pretty disappointing.
523 Points
Same song, second verse. The lawyers for the Jacobs estate must have major debts to be continuing this quixotic quest! To plagerize the song they are dreaming and impossible dream.
102 Points
Tarana I think you said it. All books can look the same especially fantasy book were most of the mythology is based off the same things with a twist from the diff authors. I mean how many times do you think Tolkien could have sue someone, or romeo and juliet:; how many time can to lovers kill themselves.
465 Points
Not cool! Not cool at all.
Poor Jo, that is absoulutly ridiculous.
1661 Points
This is so STUPID!! Those idiots need to curl up and die already! It’s not even their book!!! It’s their grandfather’s book and he didn’t complain while he was alive. Plus the two stories are not similar at ALL!!!
128 Points
What the heck?! Jo is a WAY better writer then him! I read that he went bankrupt in 1991, so his family is probably trying to get more money for there filthy muggle hand to get on!
128 Points
I’M SOOO MAD NOW!!! HIS FAMILIES JUST MAD THAT HARRY POTTER IS GOING TO BE 8 MOVIES!!!!!
3419 Points
A sigh and shake of a head poor Jo, poor poor Jo….do people ever, EVER leave her alone? God, people, give her a break!!!!!! she has done a wonderful thing writing HP these past 10 years, and she shouldnt be attacked for it at every tunr!!!! its very frustrating, and probably especially for Jo. Well all i can say is “We are here for you Jo we support you thorugh and through!!! In short we’ve all got your back!”
@Tarana: You can only vote once every 20 mins (you used to be able to do it twice, once normally and once by signing in to twitter, but they’ve changed it so it is only once every 20mins).
You make some good comments by the way