J.K. Rowling Cleared in Plagiarism Case

By Sarah Crow Posted Jan 7th 2011 04:30PM

J.K. Rowling may have dreamed up boy-wizard Harry Potter, but the author didn't need any magic to get her plagiarism case thrown out.

U.S. judge Shira Scheindlin has dismissed claims that the author copied another writer in 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,' the fourth book in her popular series.

Reuters reports that the estate of deceased author Adrian Jacobs previously asserted that Rowling had borrowed from Jacobs' 1987 book 'Willy the Wizard - No 1 Livid Land.'

Jacobs' estate alleged that Rowling had used, among other lifted material, the ideas of wizards traveling on trains and competing against one another in wizardry contests.

Scholastic, which publishes Rowling's books in the U.S., said of Scheindlin's ruling, "The Court's swift dismissal supports our position that the case was completely without merit and that comparing Willy the Wizard to the Harry Potter series was absurd."

In her decision, Scheindlin wrote, "The contrast between the total concept and feel of the works is so stark that any serious comparison of the two strains credulity."

While Jacobs died "penniless" in London in 1997, Rowling has turned her books into a multibillion-dollar franchise, including merchandise, supplementary books and a popular film series starring Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.

Tags: jk rowling

Comments

(6)

Friday 07 January

By slayer

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Her books seem so much like Jill Murphy's books, "The Worst Witch" which came way before Rowlings' stories. I remember seeing a movie in the late 80's with Tim Curry and Fairuza Balk as the "worst witch"

By johnson

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has enough money to pay lawyers! Personally I thinks its a male ghostwriter that wrote those books!She doesnt look intelligent enough!

Saturday 08 January

By BTDT

Einstein didn't look that bright either, but most would say he was.

By JP

@ Slayer : Holy crap! Nobody else I know (besides my brother and sister) has seen The Worst Witch. I use to love that movie and watched it hundreds of times. I know all the (cheesey) songs by heart. I'm 34 now and would love to watch it again. I'm just wondering if you've ever seen The Peanut Butter Solution. Nobody has ever heard of that one either. It's sorta along the same lines as TWW in the sense of a cheesey magical movie.

P.S. For a second, I though that pic of JK was Felicity Huffman.

By Saf2011

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@Johnson... Are you really serious when you said that J.K Rowlings does not look intelligent enough to write her own book!!? Exactly what do intelligent people look like? From your post I gather that intelligent people must only be males. Johnson congratulations for being an exemplary representation of male chauvinism at its best!

Saf2011! Thank you very much! have an intelligent day!

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