From the Person who posted: J.K.Rowling & The Legendof Rah and the Muggles

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 14521

Hi --

my_email_1 at yahoo.com wrote:

> Yes, it is true that she has changed the story and made it a lot more
> interesting, but still, she did not come up with the 'main' idea.

Like Neil, I'll say that it doesn't sound to me as though you've read
the works of *either* of these authors if you think the "main idea"
(thesis/themes) of J.K. Rowling's works was lifted from Stouffer's
work(s).  A simple perusal of realmuggles.com (Stouffer's site) or the
complaint & pleadings she filed in her groundless lawsuits would tell
you that the similarities are superficial at best.  JKR has created an
entire wizarding universe.  Forgive me if I've misunderstood, but from
the complaint & pleadings in her lawsuit, I don't have the impression
that Stouffer's work(s) have anything at all to do with wizards.  BTW,
reading the lawsuit pleadings (or Stouffer's site) seems to be the only
way to really get any sense of Stouffer's works since they are
*out-of-print* (i.e., they didn't *sell*), and were never circulated in
anything other than a second-rate drug store in selected states in the
Northeastern US for a limited period of time.  The plots of these works
are so completely different that it's insane to think you can make any
valid comparisons.  As others have pointed out, Stouffer didn't come up
with the word "muggles" (neither did JKR).

If Stouffer had such valid claims, why did she wait until Feb 2000 to
file a trademark application?  Why were her works never registered with
the Copyright Office?  Why were copies never sent to the Library of
Congress?  Why does WorldCat have no listings for her or her works (that
is, not a single solitary public library in the US has a copy of any of
them)?

I'm afraid the US court system disagrees with your opinion, my_email_1.
They've already dismissed large chunks of her claims, and since the case
has been moved to the federal court for the southern (?) district of NY,
it stands to reason that the rest of her lawsuit will be similarly
thrown out as meritless.  Personally, I hope her attorneys are subjected
to Rule 11 sanctions for bringing such a meritless lawsuit in the first
place.

> P.S. I STILL THINK THAT J.K. IS THE BEST AUTHOR IN THE WORLD AND THAT
> HARRY POTTER IS THE BEST BOOK EVER!!

Hmmm .... like Neil, I've got to wonder if you realize that there are 4
Harry Potter books.  And, if you really do have the above sentiment, you
have a very strange way of showing it!

BTW, feel free to express your opinions on this group, but please be
sure you've read our Netiquette files.

Penny



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