JK Rowling: plagiarist?

I wouldn't say Harry, nor Potter, are particularly unusual names. Nor would I say that using names from somewhere else is plagiarism.

You come up with a fantasy story that has no parts that could be matched to any other fantasy story and I'll show you that it is no longer fantasy :)

There is always a quest, there is always a baddy, there is usually a youngster that the audience grows old with, there is always a good guy, there is always a magic thingy that they have... If you wish to use the plagiarism line then look no further than the Belgariad. Orphan, wizard/sorcerer that doesn't know it at first, lives with their aunt as a child, has the biggest baddie ever to face that no-one else could possibly face, has to face them on their own in the end, has an old man as a guardian, has a magical weapon...
 
I doubt the plot of the film is similar to any of her plots, but I think it's a bit cheeky to pinch a whole character name. I know neither are particularly unusual, but put them together and they become a lot rarer...

I wonder if she sought permission to use "Harry Potter".
 
Gilly said:
You come up with a fantasy story that has no parts that could be matched to any other fantasy story and I'll show you that it is no longer fantasy :)
Click to expand...

True, though I think it's a bit much using a whole name created by somebody else. She could have changed Harry for something similar. :)
 
Also, to be fair, that Troll story (that incidentally I've never heard of) has Torok as a baddie, and the aforementioned Belgariad has Torak :D
 
Doesn't the fact that it has taken so long to come to light speak volumes about the Troll?
 
Surprised no-one's posted this yet:

61074harrypotterstarwardz4.jpg
 
Gilly said:
Doesn't the fact that it has taken so long to come to light speak volumes about the Troll?
Click to expand...

That Troll is an awful and/or largely unheard of film? Perhaps it is both, I haven't seen it yet and only discovered it today, but that wouldn't excuse the (possible) theft of a character's name.

seek said:
http://www.geocities.com/audrahammer/hpvsww.html
Click to expand...

Hehe, that is a rather long list of 'coincidences'...

I'm not familiar enough with the Potter stories to have an opinion on how heavily the author was influenced by other works, I just think it quite likely she has seen Troll. ;)
 
Last edited:
Deadly Ferret said:
That Troll is an awful and/or largely unheard of film? Perhaps it is both, I haven't seen it yet and only discovered it today, but that wouldn't excuse the (possible) theft of a character's name.
Click to expand...

Well yeah, what link is there between Harry Potter of JKR and Harry Potter of the Troll? Do we know she'd even heard of it? I haven't.
 
This is a tad silly. Harry Potter is not a very exotic name and who would care if someone used a name anyway? How many books are about an orphan growing up to fight a bad guy who caused him to be an orphan? Hundreds probably.
 
I doubt that I'd call it plagarism for the simple reason that from all I know of it (which is very little) Harry Potter isn't exactly a new or unusual story by any stretch of the imagination and so if it is plagarism then it incorporates elements from too many generic fantasy tales for any one source to be credited. It is fairly well told by most accounts and it seemed to come along at the 'right' time to be wildly successful but I'm not willing to accept it into the canon of great literature. I do welcome that it gets more people reading though but I can't imagine myself ever reading it.
 
Hmm.. Troll is about a wicked lord searching for a mystical ring.

OMG PLAGIARISM - LOTR RIPOFF!

Sensational crap, again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom