Years ago there was a charge of Plagerism against her and a lawsuit from a woman in Pa, (US)

 

 

June 19 2002</DATE>

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Author J. K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter books have sold more than 67 million copies, says she's no plagiarist, asserting in court papers that the boy wizard is "entirely the fruit of my own imagination".

Rowling is battling a federal copyright lawsuit in New York claiming her four Harry Potter books infringed on the work of Nancy Stouffer, a Pennsylvania woman who wrote about a boy named "Larry Potter" in the 1980s. Stouffer says Rowling lifted character names, including the "muggles", from her.

"I am deeply offended that my integrity and good character have been besmirched by the ludicrous allegations that I stole any part" of the books, Rowling said in response.

Scholastic Corporation, the US publisher of Harry Potter, published the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, (published in Australia as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) in 1998. Volume five will be released by next June.

Stouffer's lawyer, Tom McNamara, didn't return calls.

 

A judge refused in December, 2000, to dismiss the case, citing similarities between the works of the two authors. Now, in newly filed court papers, Rowling's lawyers say Stouffer fabricated key documents.

Rowling's books tell the story of Harry Potter, who at age 11 discovers he is a wizard and accepts an invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he does battle with the evil Lord Voldemort. The books are credited with attracting legions of new readers.