While I was doing some research on this, I came across this website reviewing the Stouffer book. This should once again reinforce the vanity press thing. Thought you guys might like it.
From what I can tell, this woman got off easy with only a $50,000 in sanctions granted against her.
Posted by dspellweaver (Member # 2133) on :
Some people will do anything to get published! This is like the equivalent of Tonya Harding whacking Nancy Kerigan in the knee in a failed attempt to eliminate the competition. I have come to the conclusion that bad writers must exist if only to make the rest of us look good and normal.
Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :
I'm currently reading a veritable slew of Philip K. Dick short stories. In one of them, that was written a few decades back, I think, the word "muggle" was used. And, if I'm not utterly mistaken, I think Dick's usage was very nearly similar in that in referred to people outside of a particular group. If I have time, I'll check on that.
But, once a word is coined -- say for example OSC's Xenocide -- you can't prevent others from using it. Albeit, none of this anything to do with this topic... I just felt like pointing it out; a sidebar to the conversation, if you will.
Edit: I seem to be mistaken after all. I ran a search on my palm pilot for the word "muggle" (Dick's stories are in PDA format, by the way) and it didn't turn up. It must have been Stephen King's "On Writing" that I saw it, and that was written after Rowling's first Potter book, I believe. Oh, well. I thought I was being clever.
[This message has been edited by HSO (edited February 21, 2005).]
Posted by SteeleGregory (Member # 2049) on :
This lawsuit was ridiculous. Even if everything Stouffer claimed was true, there isn't any similarity between the two works. I think you need a little more than the word "Muggle" and the title "Keeper of the" to claim plagerism.
