JK Rowling Sued in High Court of England for Major Harry Potter Copyright Breach !

SYDNEY, February 17, 2010 - Harry Potter Author, J.K.Rowling has today, WEDNESDAY 17 FEB, been joined
personally to the ongoing High Court of England action brought in June 2009
against her publishers Bloomsbury Plc for breach of copyright in her book
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.

The English lawsuit, brought by The Trustee of the Estate of the late
English children's writer Adrian Jacobs claims that J.K.Rowling, now being
sued under her married name of Joanne Kathleen Murray, personally copied a
substantial part of Jacobs' visionary book The Adventures of Willy The Wizard
No 1 Livid Land published in 1987 into her book Harry Potter and The Goblet
of Fire published 13 years later.

In The Adventures of Willy The Wizard, a short, densely written,
beautifully illustrated book, Adrian Jacobs wrote of a twin world with real
places and Wizard Colleges,Wizard only Hospitals, Wizard Prisons, Villages
full of Wizard Brewers, Wizard Chess played on Wizard Trains, Gambling
Wizards-and most significantly,the High Court Writ claims, a year of wizard
contests similar to a central theme of Harry Potter and The Goblet of
Fire,"The Triwizard Tournament."

The Estate also claims that many other concepts and themes from Willy The
Wizard which were new to the genre in 1987 have been copied into The Harry
Potter story.

Adrian Jacobs'literary agent was Christopher Little, famously the agent
who years later discovered J.K.Rowling. Little now manages the multi-billion
dollar Harry Potter brand worldwide.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire is one of the most successful of the
Harry Potter stories. The Adventures of Willy The Wizard was published in
1987 by a small English firm Bachman and Turner, ten years before the first
of the Harry Potter series emerged.

The Trustee of The Estate of Adrian Jacobs, Paul Allen, says "The
Estate-which acts independently of Adrian Jacobs family has been in
correspondence with lawyers for Rowling and her publishers for several years
but have been repeatedly rebuffed. We have taken expert legal advice and we
believe we have very strong case. We have only joined J.K.Rowling, now Mrs
Murray, to our lawsuit against Bloomsbury after discovering legal cause of
action against her within the last six years. Previously we were advised we
were "out of time" to bring an action against J.K.Rowling herself as Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published in the year 2000.

This court case is about upholding our legal copyright and seeking proper
compensation to the Estate from J.K.Rowling and her Bloomsbury PLC her
publishers for their substantial and sustained breach of our copyright.

Adrian Jacobs was an original and visionary writer and his work deserves
recognition"

"Last year in The High Court of England, the Jacobs Estate launched an
action against Bloomsbury Plc and Mrs J.K.Murray has now been joined to this
action by agreement with her solicitors and those of Bloomsbury plc. We have
asked for this breach of copyright to be stopped. We are taking legal advice
as to whether the Harry Potter films breach our copyright and likewise the
proposed Harry Potter theme park."

Note 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.

"Many extracts from the Jacobs book can be seen at
www.willythewizard.com"

FOR FURTHER DETAILS CALL MAX MARKSON, MARKSON SPARKS! on UK MOBILE
+44(0)7710-067-299 or AUSTRALIAN MOBILE +61-412-501-601 or email
max@marksonsparks.com

FOR FURTHER DETAILS CALL MAX MARKSON, MARKSON SPARKS! on UK MOBILE
+44(0)7710-067-299 or AUSTRALIAN MOBILE +61-412-501-601 or email
max at marksonsparks.com