Rowland's supposed "Infringements" on Stouffer.

INFRINGEMENT EXAMPLES
J. K. ROWLING BOOKS	N. K. STOUFFER BOOKS	What this reader sees...
CHILDREN'S FABLE AGES 9-12	CHILDREN'S FABLE AGES 6-12	Rowling's books I'd open up to include ages 9-99. Stouffer's book illustrations would lead me to believe ages 6 to 9, not 6 to 12. I mean seriously, if I were 12 years old again (in 7th grade) I wouldn't be caught with a book illustrated like this.
MYTHICAL PLACE	MYTHICAL PLACE	"Mythical Place?" C'mon, aren't children's tales often "mythical?"
ORPHAN BOYS	TWIN ORPHAN BOYS	Orphans. Another common theme, Oliver! (Good thing a basket theme wasn't included too...)
SORCERER'S STONE	WORRY STONE	Two stones, different names... uhhh sure...
MUGGLES HUMAN/NON-MAGICAL FULL SIZE PEOPLE	MUGGLES HUMAN/NON-MAGICAL LITTLE PEOPLE	Ok, here's the first "real" thing I'd consider, a "muggle." I mean it's a "cutesy" name that I'm sure many people have come up with, but still, maaaybe JK could of copied it... Looking at JK's use of the word, I'd guess it came from "muddle," as in the people who muddle things up (Harry's parents). Looking at Stouffer's use I'd guess it came from "huggable," as in the cutesy appearance of her illustrations (which instantly reminded me of alien Teletubbies with rabbit kinda faces).
MUGGLE FAMILIES	MUGGLE FAMILIES	Families... alike? Ooh... no families allowed huh?
MUGGLE VILLAGE	MUGGLE VILLAGE	A village? This too?? Wooow.
MUGGLES REJOICING "HAPPY, HAPPY DAY"	MUGGLES REJOICING "OH WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY"	Hey, good thing Ren & Stimpy didn't get pissed... Rowland's is much closer to "Happy Happy Joy Joy."
MUGGLES PLAY SOCCER-LIKE GAME	MUGGLES PLAY CROQUET-LIKE GAME	Oh my gosh! Two completely different games!!! Ahh, but that's right, maybe JK copied the idea of playing a game though! I see now...
NEVILLE	NEVILS	What's this? A French translation? How sly!
NEVILLE LOOSES THINGS CRIES AND WHINES	NEVILS CLUMSY AND NERVOUS AND COMPLAIN	Looses things, cries & whines. Yeah, I can see the point... reminds me of someone...
NEVILLE BODY CHANGES BECOME BLISTERED WITH BOILS	NEVILS BODIES CHANGE BECOME DEFORMED/SKIN ROUGH	Let's see, boils & blisters compared to deformed lizard skin is it? Yes well, both sound like they'd qualify as legitimate childhood fears, and fear does seem to tend to be a part of childrens tales...
HARRY POTTER	LARRY POTTER	Ok, now here's the second real thing I'd consider. These are quite simular. Strange though... how JK Rowlings had to depend upon someone else to come up with the creativity for a regular old name.
LILY POTTER	LILLY POTTER	Lily? Oh, Harry's mom? Again, such a difficult name to have one's creativity come up with!
NIMBUS 2000 BROOM FLYS THROUGH THE SKY	NIMBUS MYTHICAL WARRIOR FLYS THROUGH THE SKY	Jeez... nimbus, cumulo-nimbus... aren't those things that scurry about the sky? How unnatural to come up with a name like that for something which flys!
A MIRRORED LAKE	A MIRRORED LAKE	A mirrored lake, a mirrored lake. Yes not very common now, is it? 'Course JK's lake was "smooth as glass," but 'spose we can't be deducting points for that now... close enough!
FLEET OF BOATS	FLEET OF BOATS	A fleet of boats... Oooh JK, you shoulda said "a school of boats," or "a flock of boats..."
BOATS AWAIT BY LAKE	BOATS AWAIT BY INLET	Yes yes, boats awaiting... perhaps they should've been awaiting along the road, or perched in the tops of trees? Yes, that wouldn't of infringed now, would it?
BOATS TRAVEL ACROSS LAKE	BOATS TRAVEL DOWN INLET TO LAKE	Oh my! Boats traveling across a lake of all things... definitely a faux-pas!
VISITORS TRAVEL BY BOAT TO CASTLE	VISITORS TRAVEL BY BOAT TO CASTLE	Yes, what a point, this is so very unique... How do we get to castles? Across a river by bridge or boat, or walk the high road over moat. (Harry's taken carriages and flown there once too. S'pose two outta three ain't bad!)
IVY VEGETATION SURROUNDS THE BOAT PASSENGERS	TROPICAL VEGETATION SURROUNDS THE BOAT PASSENGERS	Oh Gosh! Vegetation!! JK used vegetation!! We should definitely clip her for that one now!
CASTLE ON CLIFF	CASTLE ON CLIFF	Yes, I was wondering about that too... first JK said it was on a mountain, next page she says a cliff. Perhaps she couldn't remember what another author put, so included both to give satisfaction? (Jeez, a castle on a cliff? Ever heard of such a place for a castle??)
DARK SECRET PATH	DARK SECRET PATH	Yes yes, secret paths, secret gardens, secret passageways... who'd ever come up with the uniqueness of these?
ENTRANCE TO CASTLE "FLIGHT OF STONE STEPS THAT LEAD TO A HUGE OAK DOORS"	ENTRANCE TO CASTLE "FLIGHT OF STONE STEPS THAT LEAD TO A HUGE WOODEN DOOR"	Yes JK should've used an elevator here. Surely she should've known using "stone steps" up to a castle with a "huge" oak door would've been ideas "belonging" to someone else!
KNOCK THREE TIMES ON THE OAK DOOR	KNOCK THREE TIMES ON THE WOODEN DOOR	Oh and another very unique item! Shoulda said "twice," or "four times." Definitely a risk of plagerism here!
RECEIVING HALL	RECEIVING HALL	Uh huh, one of those... she shoulda said "Grande Foyer" or something.
FLAGSTONE FLOORS	CHECKERBOARD STONE FLOOR	Yes, stone floors in everybodies castle but Rowlands... ya know, we shoulda stayed away from "stone" in a castle, of all places!!
GREAT HALL	GREAT HALL	Maybe JK shoulda said "great, BIG, hall." That woulda been kosher now, wouldn't it?
SEATS IN GREAT HALL	SEATS IN GREAT HALL	Mmm hmm. There shouldn't a been any seats in it now either... somebody'd surely already thought of that!
FOUR HOUSES	FIVE COLONIES	Uh oh, trouble here. Four doesn't equal five, and houses don't equal colonies. We're gonna have to deduct points for this one now, Ms. Stouffer...
VISITOR CEREMONY	VISITOR CEREMONY	A ceremony in a castle? What a very rare thing... JK did you copy this???
VISITORS PREPARED FOR QUESTIONS	VISITORS PREPARED FOR QUESTIONS	Visitors preparing for questions... have you ever heard of something so unnatural?
QUESTIONS ASKED BEFORE OTHERS ALREADY THERE	QUESTIONS ASKED BEFORE OTHERS ALREADY THERE	Well, we might as well milk it for what it's worth!
HOUSE CUP HONOR CRYSTAL GOBLET	HONOR CUP OF DESIRE CRYSTAL GOBLET	Yes, why should JK have bothered to honor guests by bringing out the crystal?
DRINK SORCERERS STONE ELIXIR	DRINK WATER FROM THE WELL OF DESIRE	Oooo, a magic potion vs. the wishing well! Yes yes yes, much too simular!
CHARACTER DRESSED IN TIGHTS	CHARACTERS IN TIGHTS	A rather tight spot we're in here... Of all the characters... in suits, robes, pajamas, why did JK have to mention "tights!?" She must be looking for trouble...
VANISHING STEPS	VANISHING STEPS	The idea of steps, vanishing into the distance or dark. Now where would we see that!
QUILL PENS AND PARCHMENT	QUILL PEN AND PARCHMENT	Oh, could this be outright infringement? Whoever heard of using such items in a magical castle, of all places! (Pardon me Harry, but you wouldn't happen to have a Mont Blanc now, would you?)
POISONOUS FUNGUS ALLERGIC REACTION	POISONOUS MOSS ALLERGIC REACTION	Fungus... moss... good thing she didn't take a lichen to it!
HERBS AND FUNGI	BORDONIAN MOSS	Lichening different things again...?
GOVERNOR	FRIAR	Hmm. Well, she shoulda stayed away from any kind of "leader" now, shouldn't she've? No, we can't have leaders in children's books...
UNDERGROUND CAVES AND PASSAGEWAYS	UNDERGROUND CAVES AND PASSAGEWAYS	Uhp uhp! We can't have any of these things now JK... (Haven't you read "The Hobbit"?)
THE BOOK OF MONSTERS	THE ANCIENT BOOK OF TALES	Well yes, who gave JK the right to use a "book" in her tale, of all things... a book!!!
KEEPER OF THE KEYS	KEEPER OF DREAMS KEEPER OF THE GARDENS KEEPER OF THE MILLS KEEPER OF THE CHILDREN KEEPER OF THE FOOD KEEPER OF THE LIGHT	Let's see, you've got six items listed there Ms. Stouffer... but I'm gonna have to give infringement rights on this one to "GhostBusters," since they've already used "keeper of the keys." Sorry!
Ms. Stouffer's page goes on to say... *"THERE ARE MANY MORE* SIMILARITIES, ALL OF WHICH CAUSE FURTHER CONFUSION, INFRINGE UPON STOUFFER'S TRADEMARKS, AND UNFAIRLY COMPETE WITH HER PROPERTIES."**
Ok, according to Stouffer's table, JK Rowlands is "infringing" by using: a childs tale covering the same age group, using a "myth" with an "orphan," a "stone," a "family," a "village," a "game," a common childhood personality with his fears and simular name, a natural name for a flying thing like "nimbus," a "lake," a "fleet of boats," "vegetation," a "castle" (in a common location), the castle has "stone" steps and a "huge" wooden door (quite normal), along with "stone" floors, halls, with seating, the students live in different club-like groups (as do many college students), there are ceremonies in the castle, using the fine crystal, people asking each other questions, quill pens and parchment are used, a leader shows up, maybe from out of the darkened (vanishing) stairs or underground passageways... I'd have to say that out of all the supposed "infringements" you only have two worth noticing: the names "Muggles" and "Potter." Most of the rest being more than stretches of the imagination. I mean cripes, this is all common stuff appropriate to the plot. If you've read JK Rowlands you can see that she's come up with a virtual ocean of creativity, with many, many characters (not to mention all the creative scenes, settings, objects of magic, etc. etc.). With her obvious talent with creativity, why would she need to steal some other author's character names, of all things? In my opinion it's only a coincidence that of the multitude of character names JK's come up with, two happen to match. For me it's quite easy to determine that JK Rowlands hasn't "infringed" upon Nancy Stouffer. My guess would be that somebody's more jealous or envious than infringed upon. See Ms. Stouffer's site for yourself... (any simularities with Rita Skeeter being entirely coincidental). Tom Gleason
8-12-00