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The
Harry Potter books are a series of fantasy novels
by British writer J. K. Rowling. Since the release of the first
novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (retitled
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United
States) in 1997, the books have gained immense popularity and
commercial success worldwide, spawning films, video games, and a
wealth of other items.
The
six books to date have collectively sold more than 300 million
copies and have been translated into more than 63 languages. The
first volume has been translated into Latin and even Ancient
Greek, making it the longest work in that language since the
novels of Heliodorus of Emesa in the 3rd century AD. Due to the
tremendous success of the novels, Rowling has become the richest
writer in literary history. English language versions of the
books are published by Bloomsbury in the United
Kingdom and internationally, and Scholastic Press in the United
States, Allen & Unwin in Australia
and Raincoast Books in Canada.
A
large portion of the narrative takes place in Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry, and focuses on Harry Potter's struggles
against the dark wizard Lord Voldemort. At the same time, the
books explore the themes of friendship, ambition, choice,
prejudice, courage, growing up, love, moral responsibility, and
the complexities of death, and are set against the expansive
backdrop of a hidden magical world with its own complex history,
diverse inhabitants, unique culture, and parallel societies.
Six
of the seven planned books have been published, and the seventh,
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be
released on 21 July 2007. The most recently published book, Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was issued in an English
language version on 16 July 2005.
The
first four books have been made into very successful motion
pictures by Warner Bros. The fifth, Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix began filming in February 2006, and is
scheduled for release on 13 July 2007, eight days before the
final book is due out.
Controversy
Allegations
of copyright and trademark infringement
In
1999 N.K. Stouffer quietly began to allege copyright and trademark
infringement by J.K. Rowling of her 1984 works The Legend of
Rah and the Muggles and Larry Potter and His Best Friend
Lilly.
The
primary basis for Stouffer's claims lie in her own invention of
Muggles, non-magical elongated humanoids of sorts and the title
character of the second work, Larry Potter, a bespectacled boy
with dark, wavy hair (Rowling's Potter is characterised as
having all of those, though with unruly instead of wavy hair).
Stouffer contended (and still does to this day) that it is not
just these examples and similar names but that it is "the
cumulative effect of all of it combined" with the other
comparisons she lists on her real muggles website.
Rowling,
along with Scholastic Press (her American publisher) and Warner
Brothers (holders of the series' film rights), pre-empted
Stouffer with a suit of their own seeking a declaratory judgment
that they had not infringed on any of Stouffer's works. Rowling,
through the use of expert witnesses who brought into question
the authenticity of Stouffer's evidence, won the case with
Stouffer's claims being dismissed with prejudice and Stouffer
herself being fined $50,000 for her "pattern of intentional
bad faith conduct" in relation to her employment of
fraudulent submissions, along with being ordered to pay a
portion of the plaintiffs' legal fees. Stouffer is currently
appealing the ruling.
In
2002, an unauthorized Chinese-language "sequel"
entitled Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon appeared for
sale in the People's Republic of China. The work of a Chinese
ghost writer, the book contains characters from the works of
other authors, including Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord
of the Rings, and the title character from L. Frank Baum's The
Wizard of Oz. Rowling's lawyers successfully took legal
action against the publishers who were forced to pay damages.
LINKS
and REFERENCE
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J.
K. Rowling".
-
J.K.
Rowling. Forbes.
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"Wizard
Revisited"", Sunday Tribune, June 19,
2005.
-
HP
in Ancient Greek.
-
Greek
Harry
-
Watson,
Julie and Kellner, Tomas. "J.K.
Rowling And The Billion-Dollar Empire". Forbes.com
-
"Final
'Harry Potter' title revealed", The Guardian,
December 21, 2006.
-
Release
date announced on J.K. Rowling's website
-
Rowling,
J.K.. Biography.
JKRowling.com.
-
"J.K.
Rowling interview transcript, The Connection", Quick
Quote Quill, October 12, 1999.
-
Barnes
& Noble.com
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Lawless,
John. Nigel
Newton. BusinessWeek Online.
-
Savill,
Richard. Harry
Potter and the mystery of J K's lost initial. The Daily
Telegraph.
-
eToys
interview transcript. eToys
interview transcript. Quick Quotes Quill.
-
"Books'
Hero Wins Young Minds", New York Times, Jul 12,
1999.
-
"OOTP
is best seller in France - in English!", BBC,
July 1, 2003.
-
"J.
K. Rowling" by Leslie Ellen Jones, NoveList/EBSCO
Publishing, 2003, retrieved September 9, 2005
-
""Wild
About Harry"", New York Times, July 23,
2000.
-
Rowling,
J.K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
(US Hardback), 844.
-
Rowling,
J.K. (2005). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (US
Hardback), 511.
-
"There
would be so much to tell her..." The Daily
Telegraph.
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Rowling,
J.K. (1999). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (US
Hardback), 333.
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Rowling,
J.K. (2000). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (US
Hardback), 708.
-
"Mzimba,
Lizo, moderator. Interview with Steve Kloves and J.K.
Rowling", Quick Quotes Quill, February 2003.
-
"About
the Books: transcript of J.K. Rowling's live interview on
Scholastic.com", Scholastic.com, 16 October
2000.
-
"Harry
Potter and the Childish Adult", New York Times,
July 7, 2003.
-
"Rowling
books 'for people with stunted imaginations'", The
Guardian, July 11, 2003.
-
Bloom,
Harold. Dumbing
down American readers. Boston.com.
-
"A.
S. Byatt and the goblet of bile", Salon.com,
July 8, 2003.
-
Schoeffer,
Christine. Harry
Potter's girl trouble. Salon.com.
-
""Potter
author zaps court rival"", CNN,
September 19, 2002.
-
""Muggle
Versus Wizard"", Washington Post, March
28, 2001.
-
""Stouffer
v. Rowling"", eyrie.org, Accessed May
26, 2006.
-
www.realmuggles.com/realmuggles_release_060812.pdf
-
www.engcool.com/GEN/comments.php?
-
"Harry
Potter and Me" - BBC Christmas Special, 2001 -
accio-quote.org
-
""Harry
Potter expelled from school"", Denver Rocky
Mountain News, November 6, 1999.
-
"'Satanic'
Harry Potter books burnt", BBC, December 31,
2001.
-
"The
Nervous Witch", Chick Publications, 2002.
-
Harry
Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged. Chick Publications
(2002).
-
What
is Harry Potter all about?. Chick Publications (2002).
-
"Harry
Potter Sparks Rise in Satanism in Children", The
Onion, 2000.
-
Claim:
Harry Potter books are sparking a rise in Satanism among
children. Status: False.. Snopes.com (2001).
-
"Catholic
church stands up for Harry Potter", Guardian
Unlimited, 2003.
-
"Pope
sticks up for Potter books", BBC Newsround,
2003.
-
Harry
Potter Gets Vatican's Blessing?. LifeSite News (2003).
-
"Pope
Opposes Harry Potter Novels", Life Site,
July 13, 2005.
-
"Speak
Of The Devil...", Catholic Insider, July 14,
2005.
-
www.smh.com.au/news/books/devil-in-detail-vatican-exorcises-harry-potter
-
"The
100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000",
American Library Association, 2000.
-
www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/judgesmitesharry
-
Hearing
to determine fate of ‘Harry Potter’ books in GCPS. Gwinnett
Daily Post (2006-04-19).
-
Idiot
Of The Year Awards. Washington Post (2006-12-22).
-
Suburban
mother to appeal decision to keep Harry Potter on shelves.
Macon.com (2007-01-17).
-
"The
Harry Potter Injunction", Michael Geist,
2005.
-
"Don't
Buy Harry Potter Books", On July 13, 2005.
-
"WiGBPd
About Harry", Australian Financial Review,
19 July 2000.
-
"Harry
Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", Guardian
Unlimited, November 16, 2001.
-
"For
Spielberg, making a Harry Potter movie would have been no
challenge", Hollywood.com
-
By
The Numbers: Top-Grossing Film Adaptations
-
Rowling,
J.K.. Rubbish
Bin: J K Rowling 'veto-ed Steven Spielberg. J.K.
Rowling.com.
-
"David
Yates to Direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
for Warner Bros. Pictures", Time Warner,
-
IGN:
Trouble Brewing with Potter Casting?. ign.com.
-
"Press
Release: Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson Selected", Warner
Brothers, August 21, 2000.
-
"Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix commences production",
Warner Brothers: Daily Prophet, Feb 2, 2006.
-
Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. IMDB.com.
-
"Mzimba,
Lizo, moderator. Interview with Steve Kloves and J.K.
Rowling, February 2003.", Quick Quotes Quill,
February 3, 2003.
-
Confirmed:
HBP movie release date. MuggleNet
-
Arthur,
Levine. Awards.
Arthur A. Levine Books.
-
"Potter
book sales top 300 million", BBC, October, 4
2005.
-
"J.K.
Rowling Richer than the Queen", BBC, April
27, 2003.
-
"Harry
Potter Brand Wizard", Business Week, July
21, 2005.
-
"Reading
'cuts childhood injuries'", BBC News, 23
December 2005.
-
"New
Study Finds That the Harry Potter Series Has a Positive
Impact on Kids' Reading and Their School Work", Yahoo
News, 25 July 2006.
-
"Harry
Potter casts spell at checkouts", Times Online,
July 18, 2005.
-
"Potter
book smashes sales records", BBC, July 18,
2005.
-
Why
'Harry Potter' did a Harry Houdini. CNN (July 21, 2000).
-
"Order
of the Phoenix film due out on November 13, 2007", Mugglenet,
March 1, 2006.
-
"Confirmed:
HBP movie release date", MuggleNet
-
""Talking
With JK Rowling"", Book Links, July
1999.
-
JKR
On Richard & Judy – Transcript. Mugglenet.com.
-
""The
Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet interview Joanne Kathleen
Rowling: Part One"", Quick Quotes Quill,
July 16, 2005.
-
"Edinburgh
Book Festival", JK Rowling.com, August 15,
2004.
Official
sites
Other
resources
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