Thaindian News

Jan 7 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A judge in the United States dismissed the plagiarism case against JK Rowling, the author of the ‘Harry Potter’ series, as well as Scholastic Corp, which is the United States publisher of the books. Rowling had been accused of copying another author;s work when she wrote the book ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’.

The book was claimed to have been a copy of another story known as ‘Willy the Wizard’ which was written by the late author Adrian Jacobs. Jacobs’ estate claimed that the fourth book of the seven book series by Rowling had copied parts of Jacob’s plot. Parts such as wizards traveling on trains, and wizards having contests were said to have been among those stolen.

But Judge Shira Scheindlin quickly dismissed the case, saying “…the contrast between the total concept and feel of the works is so stark that any serious comparison of the two strains credulity,” as quoted by Scholastic. The firm issued a statement saying, “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.”