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J. K. Rowling

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Joanne Rowling (born July 31, 1965) is the British author of the internationally famous series of children's fantasy stories concerning the exploits of the boy wizard Harry Potter. She was born in Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire.

As her publisher, Bloomsbury, wanted to use initials on the cover of the Harry Potter books (suggesting that if they put an obviously female name on the cover, young boys might be reluctant to buy them), Rowling chose to adopt her grandmother's middle name of "Kathleen".

In February 2004, Rowling was listed by Forbes magazine as having a fortune of £576 million, making her a US$ billionaire and the first person in history to become a billionaire by writing books. She is the wealthiest woman in the United Kingdom (well ahead of even Queen Elizabeth II).

Career

Rowling wrote two novels for adults (neither of which sold) before she had the idea for Harry Potter during a four-hour train trip. According to her, by the time she reached her destination she had the characters and a good part of the plot for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in her head. She started writing during her lunch hours, and continued working on the manuscript throughout a stint in Portugal teaching English as a second language. The book was completed in Edinburgh after her marriage to Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes failed and she returned to the UK with her infant daughter. The book was a huge success, and she has so far had four sequels published. The sales made her a multi-millionaire, and in 2001 she used the proceeds to buy a luxurious 19th century mansion on the banks of the River Tay in the Scottish county of Perthshire.

The Harry Potter series is expected to run to seven volumes, one for each year Harry spends in school. Five of these have already been published. The fifth book, titled Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was delayed by an unsuccessful plagiarism suit directed towards her by rival author Nancy Stouffer (see below). The book was released on June 21, 2003.

In late 2003 she was approached by the television producer Russell T. Davies to contribute an episode to the famous British television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Although she was "amused by the suggestion", she turned the offer down as she is busy working on the next novel in the Potter series.

The Harry Potter books:

The last two purport to be facsimiles of books mentioned in the novels. Fantastic Beasts is a textbook, while Quidditch is probably the most popular book in the Hogwarts library. They are complete with handwritten annotations and scribblings in the margins, and include introductions by Albus Dumbledore. All proceeds from them go to the UK Comic Relief charity.

Harry Potter Movies

A film of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone only in the USA), directed by Chris Columbus, was released in late 2001. Each scene with a mention of the title stone was filmed twice, once for the USA release with sorcerer and once for world release with philosopher. Historically, the magical stone that will change lead to gold was always called the philosopher's stone.

The film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, also directed by Chris Columbus, was released in 2002, and starred largely the same set of actors.

Rowling resisted suggestions by the filmmakers that the movie be set in the United States or cast with American actors (only one American appears in the first film). She only reluctantly went along with the change from philosopher's stone to sorcerer's stone, and limited it to the US only.

Rowling assists Steve Kloves in writing the scripts for the films, ensuring that his scripts do not contradict future books in the series. She says she has told him more about the later books than anybody else, but not everything. She has also said that she has told Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane secrets about their characters, that have not yet been revealed in the books.

Lawsuits

Rowling has been involved in a lawsuit over the Harry Potter series, and other litigation has been suggested or rumored.

Nancy Stouffer

In the late 1990s, Nancy Stouffer, an author of children's books published in the 1980s, began to publicly charge that Rowling's book were based on her books, including The Legend of Rah and the Muggles and Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly. In 2001, Rowling, Scholastic Press (the American publisher of her books), and Warner Bros. (the producer of the film adaptations) sued Stouffer, asking the court to judge that there was no infringement of Stouffer's trademarks or copyright. Stouffer, who had not previously sued, then filed counterclaims alleging such infringement.

Rowling and her colitigants argued that much of the evidence that Stouffer presented was fraudulent and asked for sanctions and attorneys' fees as punishment. When the case finally came to court in September 2002, the court found in Rowling's favor, stating that Stouffer had lied to the court and falsified and forged documents to support her case. The court fined Stouffer US$50,000 and ordered her to pay part (but not all) of the plaintiffs' costs.

In January 2004 it was reported that Stouffer's appeal against the judgement had been rejected. The appeals court agreed that Stouffer's claims were properly dismissed because "no reasonable juror could find a likelihood of confusion as to the source of the two parties' works." The Court explained:

Stouffer's and Plaintiffs' marks are used in two very different ways. Rowling's use of the term "Muggles" describes ordinary humans with no magical powers while Stouffer's "Muggles" are tiny, hairless creatures with elongated heads. Further, the Harry Potter books are novel-length works and whose primary customers are older children and adults whereas Stouffer's booklets appeal to young children. Accordingly, the District Court correctly dismissed Stouffer's trademark claims.

Stouffer was also ordered to pay the costs of the appeal. A report of the judgement can be found at Entertainment Law Digest. The 2002 judgement can be found here: ROWLING v. STOUFFER

No proceedings to date

In June of 2003, Rowling announced that she would sue the New York Daily News for $100 million because the newspaper had printed excerpts from her work Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before the book's official release date.

Comic book fans have noted that an earlier comic book series by Neil Gaiman, The Books of Magic, contains many similarities to Harry Potter, but Gaiman has written on his blog that he does not personally accuse Rowling of plagiarism, nor does he have any intention of pressing charges against her, despite one journalist's attempt to weave a story around this matter. Another rumor has circulated that Jill Murphy, author of The Worst Witch books, had sued Rowling, but this too was a false rumor and it seems unlikely that Murphy will do so in future, judging by statements she has given in interview. Other authors whose earlier work bears some striking resemblances to Rowling's Harrypotterverse include Eva Ibbotson author of The Secret of Platform 13, and Diana Wynne Jones author of Charmed Life; but so far no author other than Stouffer has shown any intention of taking legal action against Rowling.

Family

Rowling used to be married to Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes, and they had one child, a daughter named Jessica (born c. 1994), before their divorce.

On December 26, 2001, Rowling married Dr. Neil Murray, in a private ceremony at her home in the Perthshire village of Aberfeldy. On March 23, 2003, Rowling gave birth to her second child, a boy called David Gordon Rowling Murray. The birth took place at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health at the New Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh.

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