Bloomsbury Sued for Copyright Infringement in Harry Potter Book

LONDON - With Photo

The estate of the English children’s writer Adrian Jacobs has today issued proceedings in the High Court of England against Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, the publishers of J.K Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series for copyright infringement.

The Estate, acting through its trustee Paul Allen, claims that in writing the book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling copied substantial parts of the work of the late Adrian Jacobs, “The Adventures of Willy the Wizard-No 1 Livid Land”, and that Bloomsbury in selling the books have infringed the Estate’s copyright.

“The Estate is also seeking a Court order against JK Rowling herself for pre-action disclosure in order to determine whether to join her as a defendant to the..action”

1987 Adrian Jacobs wrote the book “The Adventures of Willy the Wizard-No 1 Livid Land”, which describes the adventures of a wizard named Willy. The copyright allegation argues that the plot of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”, published in 2000 and one of J.K.Rowling’s best-selling books, is a copy of that to be found in Jacobs’ book. Both books describe the adventures of a main character, “Willy” in Jacobs’ book and “Harry Potter” in Rowling’s, who are wizards, who compete in a wizard contest which they ultimately win. Both Willy and Harry are required to work out the exact nature of the main task of the contest which they both achieve in a bathroom assisted by clues from helpers, in order to discover how to rescue human hostages imprisoned by a community of half-human, half-animal fantasy creatures, “the merpeople” in Harry Potter. Many other similarities are described in the Claim filed by the Estate, which include the idea of wizards travelling on trains, famously referred to in Harry Potter as the Hogwarts Express. It is alleged that all of these are concepts first created by Adrian Jacobs in Willy the Wizard, some 10 years before JK Rowling first published any of the Harry Potter novels and 13 years before Goblet of Fire was published.

It is also alleged that, at the time in trying to get his work published, Mr Jacobs sought the services of a literary agent, Christopher Little, who also later became Ms Rowling’s literary agent in the Harry Potter series.

Mr Jacobs’ book was ultimately published by Bachman and Turner in 1987. However, following a stock market crash, Jacobs became bankrupt and died penniless in a London hospice in 1997. By contrast, today the Potter Brand is a multibillion dollar global entertainment phenomenon.

In the action, the Estate is seeking an injunction to prevent further sales of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and either damages or a share in the profits made by Bloomsbury Plc in selling books that are alleged to infringe Adrian Jacob’s copyright.

Mr Paul Allen, the trustee of the estate, said … “Because it is not right for the Estate to comment upon matters proceeding before the Court, all we would say is that Adrian Jacobs did not live long enough to see the massive success of the Harry Potter books and films. If he had he would have sought the proper recognition of his contribution to this success story. He cannot fight this battle personally so his estate is bringing this action to ensure that his voice is heard. The action, if proved, will ensure the rights of authors everywhere, even posthumously.”

Notes to Editors

A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be downloaded from www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at www.mediapoint.press.net or www.prnewswire.co.uk.

Extracts from Adrian Jacobs’ book can be viewed on the web at www.willythewizard.com

For further information and interviews please contact Max Markson on UK +44(0)7710-067-299 or Australia +614-12-501-601 or email max@marksonsparks.com

Source: Markson Sparks Ltd

For further information and interviews please contact Max Markson on UK +44(0)7710-067-299 OR Australia +614-12-501-601 or email max at marksonsparks.com