"Recently there were a number of reports that Warner Bros. and I had taken legal action against religious charities in India because they constructed a Hogwarts castle as part of a Hindu festival. Here are the facts.The defendants were not religious charities, and theirs was not a religious celebration. On the contrary, it was a large-scale, commercial, sponsored event involving corporations that included a major Indian high street bank. The event was, however, set up while a Hindu festival was going on."
It was Warner Bros who brought the case, because the rights that were being infringed belong to them, not me. My name has to be attached to such proceedings as a legal technicality, because I am the underlying creator of Harry Potter series. Also due to a technicality, Warner Bros were obliged to claim damages as part of their claim. However, they waived this right, and neither sought nor obtained any financial compensation. It is completely false to assert that they, or I, were trying to take money from anybody, let alone two million rupees. The court ruled that Warner Bros. rights had indeed been infringed, and that events such as the one in question would need Warner Bros.' permission in the future. The court also restrained all the defendants from any future events infringing Warner Bros. rights.
Some of the news agencies and newspapers who misreported this story subsequently issued corrections and apologies, but the original, false story is still doing the rounds. In the immortal words of Mark Twain, 'a lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.'
Also, Jo hilariously addresses some recent tabloid claims about her miraculously "rowling back the years " and other purported physical makeovers. Quotage:
"Apparently I've been 'Rowling back the years' (ho, ho). Yes, the secrets behind my new (ahem) health and beauty regime have been confided to a British newspaper by a 'friend'. Now, most people stop having imaginary friends once they're adults, but mine sometimes drop in on journalists to give them completely unrecognisable accounts of my life. My carbon-based friends, however, if asked whether I jog, do pilates and yoga, have a frozen forehead or refuse cake, might well suffer some kind of mirth-induced internal injury.
"It would be churlish not to thank the journalist concerned for saying that I look better now than I did in the early days of Harry Potter's success, and I am indeed grateful for the underlying compliment. In the interests of accuracy, however, I must point out that, far from losing weight, I've gained a good bit since the 'before' photographs featured in the article. So J K Rowling's top tip for today is: eat more. Perhaps my next project could be a revolutionary diet book?"
Is this all John Noe’s fault? I seem to recall him joking a couple of weeks ago about Jo jogging, an perhaps the tabloids were listening. Jo does look better than she did in the earlier HP years, but I think a lot of it is that she is more confident now because she has got the hang of appearing in public.
yeah, she’s done SO much since book seven, giving interviews, and readings, and online chats, telling us all the minute details about our favorite books, I dont really think we have any right to demand more on her website. Her website is her baby, and if she wants to use it to dismiss lies that have been told about her, then more power to her!
Moon, did you read what she said? She said that most of the news stories were inaccurate. She actually wasn’t a plaintiff, just WB. This is what she said: “The defendants were not religious charities, and theirs was not a religious celebration. On the contrary, it was a large-scale, commercial, sponsored event involving corporations that included a major Indian high street bank. The event was, however, set up while a Hindu festival was going on.”
As for your claim that they were denied money, according to Jo, WB did not seek financial compensation.
These lies hurt her character. That is why she has a rubbish bin: to address lies.
As for news about characters, she has had plenty of updates this fall.
It is what Jo says, but in the legal document it says that the castle would be respected until the end of the religious festivals (something she doesn’t mentions, ha) and that the demandants didn’t have to pay to WB the money they have pretended.
I want to know the 2 versions. Not just one, rushed.
I was never DEMANDING that she update about her characters, just mearly stating that I wish she would update about that, such as what happened to characters not in the epilogue, who else died, clarifiation on Ron’s job, etc. If she’s going to take the time to update, I’d just rather not read about lawsuits. She’s completely free to do whatever she wants, and I’ll read it anyways. I just hate when people jump down others throats for not loving every single thing and decision Jo does, that doesn’t make me less of a fan than you, just because I’m a tad dissatisfied with her updates. It’s nice of her to update at all, believe me I know, I’m not trying to act like a spoiled brat.
Personally, I find it funny that the same person who complains about Jo updating her site about a previous lawsuit is doing nothing but complaining about that same exact lawsuit.
Yeah…I can’t find that information either, mollywobble.
Personally, though, I’m very happy that J.K. Rowling clears these things up. So what if it’s “her version”? Of course it’s her opinion on it. I don’t think she changed any facts (I really can’t imagine her ever doing that, actually) and I’m always glad to hear her say in a matter like this. Moon, I’m not sure how it’s bad that JK hasn’t updated those other parts of her site, since when she was touring she basically was doing a giant rumors, extra content, and FAQs thing.
I believe that she hasn’t had liposucton or Botox or anything, but I definitely think she’s had some major dermatolgy work done – in older pictures she’s got all sorts of moles and freckles and things that she doesn’t have any more. I don’t blame her for that at all, though.
KJ, Jo wasn’t a plaintiff, that is one of her points. WB was the plaintiff because the castle infringed on their rights. Jo’s name is included because she is the original creator of “Harry Potter.”
"I cared about you too much," said Dumbledore simply. "I cared more for your happiness than your knowing the truth, more for your peace of mind than my plan, more for your life than the lives that might be lost if the plan failed. In other words, I acted
Haha love that she quotes Mark Twain, though I get enough of it as he’s a such a big part of Elmira College :P