When I saw the headline JK Rowling sued for plagiarism, my first thought was 'Not another Stephenie Meyer'. I felt cheated that yet one more top-paid author had written over someone else's work.
It's hard enough for me coming to terms with celebrities jumping on the bandwagon and ousting REAL writers, without highly-paid authors messing about - and JK Rowling is the most highly paid of them all.
The worst of it is, 5% of authors cream off 95% earnings (if you think all writers are dripping with money - think again). So if one of the top-paid writers is cheating.....
Most of us write books and stories because we love writing - but we get zilch returns - just a drop of goodwill from readers every now and then.
However, having read the article - and providing the information is correct, I feel there is hardly a case to answer.
Take a look at JK Rowling sued for plagiarism, and tell me what you think.... Not that I go along with JK Rowling having such a large slice of the ever-decreasing cake, but I hate for the image of writers to be tarnished.
*** JK Rowling, JK Rowling, JK Rowling ***
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End of post - Jk Rowling sued for plagiarism
4 comments:
I think, as writers, we are aware how many true 'original' ideas exist - if any. However, there is a difference between a tried and true plotline and straight out plagiarism.
That being said, I don't think JK Rowling has anything to worry about. Maybe it's true, that there is some similar storyline to something she once read, but ideas cannot be copyrighted. Only content. So, unless she has outright copied sentences and paragraphs, or even character names and attributes, it's highly unlikely this issue will see the light of day in court.
Copyright law is a good thing for writers, no matter the amount of grey area. In the end, those that need attention drawn to them (for all the wrong reasons) will have their day; those who are not guilty of such accusations will be redeemed. Unfortunately, reputations can be hurt in the meantime.
Here's hoping the truth, whatever it may be, is resolved and brought to light soon.
didn't she have a problem before with someone and their muggles? Some of us just keep plotting along.
This must be the silliest lawsuit of all time. Even the lawyer’s description of the similarities between the two books seems awfully thin. There is nothing that couldn’t just be a coincidence and there seems to be a great deal of difference in the nature and scope of the books. Does “Moby Dick” plagarize the Bible because they both have a whale and a guy named Ahab? These people are just hoping she will pay them a little something until they go away.
L. Grey http://www.greyorgray.com
Why would she wait until book 4 to plagiarize some goofy little 35 page book when she was already one of the most successful writers in history?
To me the only possible basis for this would be that for some reason she read Willy The Wizard many years earlier and forgot about it, then recycled one or two themes without realizing where they came from.
Hostages being rescued from a bathroom does sound like a bit of a coincidence, but come on, boy wizard in a competition and wizard train? I'm surprised they didn't claim that she plagiarized when she said her wizards walked on floors and went through doors.
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