Harry Potter by Scholastic – the American publisher of the books – as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", after Rowling had received US$105,000 for the American rights – a record amount for a children's book by an unknown author. Fearing that American readers would not associate the word "philosopher" with magic (although the Philosopher's Stone is an ancient tradition in alchemy), Scholastic insisted that the book be given the title "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" for the American market. The second book, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series out of touch with the subtleties of the book world." Ralph Baxter of Publishing News concurred: "For Asda ... it may be seen as mission accomplished, a high-risk strategy to maximise publicity for its "Harry Potter" offer rewarded with television, radio, Internet and newspaper coverage. And the association of Asda with low prices has no doubt been entrenched in a few more minds." Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series Since first coming to wide notice in the late 1990s, the "Harry Potter" book series by J. K. Rowling has engendered a number of legal disputes. Rowling, her various publishers