8 Times Harry Potter Was On Trial

7. An American Writer Claimed She Invented Muggles (Even Though They Were Mutants)

It's incredible just how quickly the credibility drops off on this one. In 1999, the American author Nancy Stouffer accused J. K. Rowling of stealing ideas from her own books, infringing her copyrights and trademarks. For a start, Stouffer had written a book that contained a race of beings known as Muggles. She had also written a book titled Larry Potter And His Best Friend Lillly. Okay, well Larry Potter sounds like Harry Potter...and Harry's mum was called Lily€ Lucky for Rowling, Stouffer's Muggles were a race of mutant humanoids. The similarities between Larry and Harry were that both wore glasses. And what else did she cite as proof of infringement? Both stories feature wooden doors. When it finally went to court, Stouffe was fined fifty-thousand dollars for bad conduct, including attempts to fraudulently update her stories with more frequent usage of the word Muggle.
Contributor
Contributor

Commonly found reading, sitting firmly in a seat at the cinema (bottle of water and a Freddo bar, please) or listening to the Mountain Goats.