The other day, I may have done author J.K. Rowling a favor.
In one of my social media feeds I noticed that there was someone on Fiverr who, for five dollars, would send you something purporting to be from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I’m not going to state specifically what it was this person was offering, but suffice it to say, in my opinion, this “service” looked very unprofessional, and I doubted that J.K. Rowling or her publishers had licensed this person to perform this service. In other words, the purveyor of this service may have been infringing on copyrights and trademarks owned by Rowling and her publishers, to say nothing about any monies he might have been earning off of them.
So…
I gathered up the information and sent it to the firm that is responsible for dealing with these matters, and I received a reply thanking me for sending them the information.
Why did I do it? I’m honest. That’s why.
Doesn’t J.K. Rowling have enough money? Anyone who wants as much money as J.K Rowling has ought to go out and earn it as she has done.
Can’t she let someone people profit off of her work? Not unless she wants to. Until then, Harry Potter is literally her business.
As an author, I understand that bread and butter is hard to earn, and stealing someone else’s intellectual property takes away from an author’s dinner table -no matter how wealthy and successful the author may be. If someone wants to make lots of money and eat like a king (or a queen), the way to do that is to work as hard as the “rich” person did to get what they have.
Rowling herself wasn’t rich when she began writing Harry Potter, yet the Harry Potter books are best-sellers. The next best-selling author could be any one of us who is reading this if we only put in the time and effort. And yes, maybe “luck” was on her side when her books got picked up for publication, but you know what? Anyone else who wants to be just as “lucky” as she is needs to make an attempt as she has done, and with an original idea, not a stolen one.
What did I get for reporting someone who may be profiting off of Rowling’s work without her permission?
A nice thank you, and the knowledge that I have done the right thing.
That’s more than enough for me.
Thomas D. Taylor
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