An Eye on Publishing and Copyright
Date Posted: 18 June 2009
Bloomsbury Publishing, the publishers of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books, have been sued by the estate of late author, Adrian Jacobs for copyright infringement. They claim that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, published in 2000, reproduces substantial parts of Jacob’s novel ‘The Adventures of Willy the Wizard’. Bloomsbury Publishing have said that the allegations are “unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue”.
The estate has lodged proceedings in the High Court and is seeking to prevent further copies of the book being sold and either damages or a share in profits made by Bloomsbury Publishing.
Jacobs reportedly approached Bloomsbury Publishing in 1987 in a failed attempt to sell them his Willy the Wizard stories. It is alleged that characters and concepts, such as Hogwarts Express, were first published in Jacob’s book The Adventures of Willy the Wizard – No1 Livid Land 10 years before any of the Harry Potter books were published.
When the claim was first made in 2004, Bloomsbury said Jacob’s estate was “unable to identify any text in the Harry Potter books which was said to copy Willy the Wizard.” “JK Rowling had never heard of Adrian Jacobs nor seen, read, or heard of his book Willy the Wizard until this claim was first made in 2004,” Bloomsbury said.
The estate is seeking to have Rowling listed as a joint defendant in the proceedings.