JK Rowling Wins Damages Over Pen-Name Novel

[PAULSTANL3Y]

JK Rowling Wins Damages Over Pen-Name Novel

The Harry Potter author used the name Robert Galbraith to disguise her identity, but it was revealed by a law firm partner.

12:19pm, Wednesday 31 July 2013 JK Rowling

JK Rowling has accepted a donation to charity from the law firm

Author JK Rowling has accepted a donation to charity from a law firm which breached her confidentiality by revealing she was writing under a pen name.

The Harry Potter creator brought proceedings in London's High Court against Chris Gossage, a partner at Russells, and a friend of his, Judith Callegari.

Ms Rowling's solicitor, Jenny Afia, told Mr Justice Tugendhat that the author was revealed in the Sunday Times as the writer of crime novel The Cuckoo's Calling.

The novel was published under the pen name of Robert Galbraith in April.

A few days later, Russells contacted her agent disclosing that it was Mr Gossage who had divulged the confidential information to Ms Callegari, who then shared it on Twitter with a journalist.

Ms Afia said that Ms Rowling, who was not in court, "has been left dismayed and distressed by such a fundamental betrayal of trust".

Mr Gossage, Ms Callegari and Russells all apologised, with the firm agreeing to reimburse Ms Rowling's legal costs and make a payment by way of damages to the Soldiers' Charity, formerly the Army Benevolent Fund.

Rowling said she always intended for a share of royalties to go to charity

A statement issued on the author's behalf said that all global net royalties which would otherwise have been paid to her from book sales of The Cuckoo's Calling would be donated to The Soldiers' Charity for a period of three years, dating from July 14 - the day that Galbraith's identity was made known.

She said: "This donation is being made to The Soldiers' Charity partly as a thank you to the Army people who helped me with research, but also because writing a hero who is a veteran has given me an even greater appreciation and understanding of exactly how much this charity does for ex-servicemen and their families, and how much that support is needed.

"I always intended to give The Soldiers' Charity a donation out of Robert's royalties but I had not anticipated him making the bestseller list a mere three months after publication - indeed, I had not counted on him ever being there."

Major General Martin Rutledge, chief executive of the charity, said: "We are absolutely thrilled by the extraordinary generosity of JK Rowling who is such an internationally renowned author.

"This donation will make a huge difference to the lives of thousands of soldiers, former soldiers and their families who are in real need.

"Her tremendous show of support for The Soldiers' Charity will help to remind people of the many sacrifices made by our soldiers, long after any news of Afghanistan has left the front page."

 

[Ultŕaman]

JK Rowling donates 'substantial' figure to charity after winning legal battle against law firm that revealed she was writing under a pseudonym

• Author wrote The Cuckoo's Calling under pseudonym Robert Galbraith
• Solicitor Chris Gossage revealed her identity to his friend Judith Callegari
  
• Ms Callegari referred to it in a Twitter exchange with a journalist
• Law firm Russells now donating 'substantial' sum to The Soldiers' Charity

PUBLISHED: 11:11 GMT, 31 July 2013 | UPDATED: 13:14 GMT, 31 July 2013

JK Rowling has accepted a substantial donation to charity from a law firm which breached her confidentiality by outing her as the author of a crime novel she wrote under a false name. Harry Potter's creator brought proceedings in London's High Court against Chris Gossage, a partner at Russells and a friend of his, Judith Callegari.The court heard Rowling had been left 'dismayed and distressed' by the 'betrayal of trust' that saw her revealed as the true author of The Cuckoo's Calling, which had been published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

'Substantial donation': Rowling, left, was 'dismayed and distressed' when she was revealed as the true author of The Cuckoo's Calling, seen right

Her solicitor, Jenny Afia, told Mr Justice Tugendhat that Rowling was revealed in the Sunday Times as the writer of the novel.

A few days later, Russells contacted her agent disclosing that it was Mr Gossage who had divulged the confidential information to Ms Callegari, who then communicated it in the course of a Twitter exchange with a journalist. Ms Afia said that Ms Rowling, who was not in court, 'has been left dismayed and distressed by such a fundamental betrayal of trust'. Mr Gossage, Ms Callegari and Russells all apologised, with the firm agreeing to reimburse Ms Rowling's legal costs and make a payment, by way of damages, to the the Soldiers' Charity, formerly the Army Benevolent Fund.

Cat out of the bag: Copies of The Cuckoo's Calling began to fly off the shelves when the author's true identity was revealed

Afterwards, a statement issued on the author's behalf said that all global net royalties which would otherwise have been paid to her from book sales of The Cuckoo's Calling would be donated to The Soldiers' Charity for a period of three years, dating from July 14 - the day that Galbraith's identity was made known.

LITERARY LEAK: HOW JK ROWLING'S SECRET CAME OUT

Before its author's true identity was revealed, crime novel The Cuckoo's Calling was languishing at number 4,709 in Amazon's bestsellers list having sold a meagre 1,500 copies.

But demand for the book went through the roof overnight after it was leaked that the name on the cover - Robert Galbraith - was in fact a pseudonym for revered Harry Potter creator JK Rowling.

Her secret was revealed by The Sunday Times on July 14, which said it enlisted the services of a linguistics expert among others to analyse the assured debut novel.

It later emerged that the truth came out after a partner at law firm Russells, Chris Gossage, had disclosed Robert Galbraith's true identity to his wife's best friend, Judith Callegari, during a 'private conversation' over a dinner.

Ms Callegari, a mother-of-two, then revealed in a Twitter exchange with a journalist that The Cuckoo's Calling was not a debut and that 47-year-old Rowling was the real author.

Within hours of the story coming out, the book leapt thousands of places to top Amazon's bestsellers list.

Rowling, who some accused of setting up the leak as a marketing ploy, said she had wanted to release the book 'without hype or expectation'.

She said: 'This donation is being made to The Soldiers' Charity partly as a thank you to the Army people who helped me with research, but also because writing a hero who is a veteran has given me an even greater appreciation and understanding of exactly how much this charity does for ex-servicemen and their families, and how much that support is needed. 'I always intended to give The Soldiers' Charity a donation out of Robert's royalties but I had not anticipated him making the bestseller list a mere three months after publication - indeed, I had not counted on him ever being there!'Major General Martin Rutledge, chief executive of the charity, said: 'We are absolutely thrilled by the extraordinary generosity of JK Rowling who is such an internationally renowned author.

'This donation will make a huge difference to the lives of thousands of soldiers, former soldiers and their families who are in real need. 'Her tremendous show of support for The Soldiers' Charity will help to remind people of the many sacrifices made by our soldiers, long after any news of Afghanistan has left the front page.'Ms Afia told the court that the author used the pseudonym to release the book in April free from the unprecedented publicity and expectation that accompanied her work. Only a handful of trusted advisers, family and friends were aware of Galbraith's true identity until the front-page story made headlines worldwide.

'The claimant was angry and distressed that her confidences had been betrayed and this was very much aggravated by repeated speculation that the leak had, in fact, been a carefully co-ordinated publicity stunt by her, her agent and her publishers designed to increase sales. 'The claimant has been left dismayed and distressed by such a fundamental betrayal of trust. 'As a reflection of their regret for breach of the claimant's confidence, including frustrating the claimant's ability to continue to write anonymously under the name Robert Galbraith, the defendants are here today to apologise publicly to the claimant.'
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