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Originally Posted by DiapDealer
She could claim it. But "might well win"? No she wouldn't. She wasn't the first (and it's too vague). She herself would be derivative if that's the standard. No judge in their right mind would decide that any book merely set in a wizarding school is derivative of HP. No more than any judge would decide that any book that takes place on Mars is derivative of The Martian. There is SOME common sense that prevails in this regard.
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Unfortunately, the assumption that some common sense that prevails doesn't seem to be entirely accurate. One sees this more in patent law than in copyright, but if a claimant is aggressive enough, one never knows that a judge and jury will decide. In copyright law, there is rarely enough money involved to make it worth pushing the envelop. That doesn't imply that someone won't. After all, 20th Century Fox sued Universal Studio claiming that Battlestar Galactica infringed on Star Wars including such things as the character Skyler was too close to Skywalker. Much of the case was solved via negotiations (example Larson agreed to use different special effects for the laser blasts) .