A U.S. judge dismissed a lawsuit that claimed J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series infringed upon Adrian Jacobs’s “The Adventures of Willy the Wizard No 1 Livid Land,” which was published in 1987. Scholastic, the U.S. Harry Potter publisher, said, “Judge Scheindlin clearly agreed… Scholastic will continue to vigorously defend any such frivolous claims challenging the originality of Harry Potter and the brilliant imagination of its author, J.K. Rowling.”
AFP: US judge zaps Harry Potter plagiarism suit
Movies based on books are not a new concept. But these days, the turnaround seems to be faster than before. The movie, “I Am Number Four,” will be released in one month, but the book it’s based on came out only five months ago. How did this happen? Well, turns out there was a bidding war for the film rights before the book was even written. And, elements of the movie script made it into the paranormal novel.
Movie Alert: ‘I Am Number Four’
Over the holiday season, Barnes & Noble made more money than Borders, the bookstore that late last year was considering buying Barnes & Noble. Borders, like many bookstores, continues to have financial problems, and lost $74.4 million in its third quarter last year.
Barnes & Noble Up, Borders Down
Lastly, since we’re in our first week of the new year, here are 10 predictions for book publishing this year. Predictions include memoir as an expanding genre, more people become authors, YA will become more popular, and books will not have a minimum number of words.
