Harry Potter Plagiarism Claims Denied

LONDON — The publisher of the wildly popular and very profitable "Harry Potter" books says it intends to fight a lawsuit alleging that author J.K. Rowling stole the idea for the series about the boy wizard.

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC is being taken to court in London by the estate of the late author Adrian Jacobs for copyright infringement, statements released Tuesday by the publishing house and legal representatives of the estate said.

"The estate ... claims that the book `Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,' reproduces substantial parts of the works of Adrian Jacobs, 'The Adventures of Willy the Wizard,' without consent, and that in selling the books, Bloomsbury has infringed and continues to infringe copyright," said a statement on the Web site of London lawyers DMH Stallard, the firm representing the estate.

Jacobs died in London in 1997. His book "The Adventures of Willy the Wizard _ No. 1 Livid Land" was published in 1987, according to a statement released by the estate's representatives, who are based in Australia.

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is the fourth book in Rowling's series and was published in July 2000.

Bloomsbury said Tuesday that the allegation that Rowling lifted from Jacobs' work is "unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue."

Jacobs' estate first approached Bloomsbury in 2004, but was "unable to identify any text in the Harry Potter books which was said to copy 'Willy the Wizard," the company said.

Rowling made no comment on the suit. Bloomsbury said the claim is baseless and the books "will be defended vigorously."

"J.K. 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,'" the statement said.

Comments

[Kitzy]

All novels are derivative. I've published fiction about zombies, vampires, wizards, and ghosts. I did not invent zombies, vampires, wizards or ghosts, but I told original stories about them.

Rowling borrowed fantasy *elements* but created an original story. That's what fantasy authors do.

[wagadog]

The fantasy I object to the most in the J. K. Rowling story is the fantasy that a single mum can "just write a book."

Why, it's a solution to widespread systemic child poverty in the UK and US.

In Fantasyland, that is.

[WriterAtLarge]

Indeed. Some authors even claim that there *are* no original ideas anymore, and that there were only seven, and they got told first back when we were still figuring this whole civilization thing out.

[kareemachan]

Okay, if a single mum cannot "just write a book", that would mean that a single man can't (St. Augustine), or a married woman (Mary Shelley), or a married man (Tolstoi or Dickens) or a woman can't conduct an orchestra (Marin Allsop) or a widower write (Faulkner) or.... I think you get my drift here. Just saying that someone couldn't have possibly have written something because they were single, married, widowed, gay, whatever.... is stupid. Baka.

[apoyo]

Read up on ancient mythology and you'll be surprised at the similarities to the Potter series.

[huntunseasun]

As if none of the commentors have caught on to this: Willy's author wrote many books. Willy's author is dead. Willy's ESTATE is suing. Why? Because this will generate interest, people might buy his 1987 book or books. Why? Because someone needs money, it sounds like.

It's all about marketing; how best to get their name out there.

[kareemachan]

Thank you. I've been involved in the book business for many years, and you see this more than you would want to. Some people will do anything for a buck. Look at the brouhaha with Coldplay and Cat Stevens, Joe Satriani, and Creaky Boards. I don't say that they are doing it for the money, but it sure brings them into the public's eye, doesn't it?.....

[WriterAtLarge]

Much like the last author who tried this http://www.realmuggles.com//), the initiators of this lawsuit have created a webpage to help "prove" their case: http://www.willythewizard.com/ . Having read through some of the excerpts, I will say this: (1) the man could NOT write, and (2) this lawsuit is going nowhere fast.

[viewfromuphere]

i kind of agree.....an awful lot of readers have never heard of these stories..

but that doesn't make Ms Rowling the mistress of originally....

[WriterAtLarge]

Definitely not. I'm just pointing out that this has been tried before, much like it has with many super-successful entertainment ventures. This particular one strikes me as very funny, though, because they're stretching their claim so thin that you can see right through it.

[kareemachan]

It may not be original, but the way she writes about it is.

[Jeremy Davis]

This is such bullspit.

"Since he can't afford to buy soccer "boots," the chimp is ignored by the other players (shown here as gorillas). Then he encounters an ethereal yet curiously familiar figure dressed in old-fashioned soccer clothes, "like the clothes Willy remembered his dad wearing." The two kick around a soccer ball, and the stranger unlaces his cleats and passes them to Willy. At the next practice, the shoes transform Willy into a star. But when Willy forgets to bring his special shoes to the big game and has to wear another pair, he nevertheless plays like a "wizard," stunning the opposition and scoring the winning goal."

This does not sound hardly at all like Harry Potter. His near-death experience as a child, parents being murdered. Learning that he is an actual magic person that can cast spells with a wand. Sure, he plays a game similar to soccer, but thats always been a side-story. Not the main narrative like this book. Besides, the monkey only thinks the shoes are magic, its all in his head. Harry Potter can (in the story) do actual magic spells.

[lesterbud]

I recall a story regarding a pair of "magical" ballet slippers........

[kareemachan]

'The Red Shoes'? Yup.

[euripedes923]

There are only so many ways to tell the same basic 3 stories, people. GTFO yourselves.

[OhComeOnNow]

Short, succinct and to the point. Spot on!

[rjmiller]

Misfit kid introduced to a fantasy world where they must battle the forces of evil. WHAT AN ORIGINAL CONCEPT!

Seriously, there is no way anyone could possibly make this case.

[tattuchu]

Oh, I always thought she was influenced by (I hate to say stole from, since the similarities are only superficial) Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic.

[Evan Roskos]

yeah, and i think the US artwork makes the connection more solid than even the texts -- i always thought Harry Potter looked disturbingly similar to the books of magic, but as Gaiman said himself -- who cares.

[ramblingjohnny]

After the whole locket LOTR ripoff in book seven is that a big surprise? You got to really have no shame to steal from the biggest fantasy novel of the 20th century!

[viewfromuphere]

and think nobody notices......that's the real "no shame"

[ramblingjohnny]

They gonna have a hard time hiding it in the movie! lolll

[loki]

There are so many thing in all the Potter books that seem right out of other books and movies its amazing. But nothing is new anymore, and I think it would be hard to write anything these days that could not be claimed to be Plagiarism if you think about. But on a side note, one similar style of stories called the Bartimaeus Trilogy was introduced to me by my 10 year old daughters. I started to read the first book at her 'strong' suggestion and was amazingly surprised by it. I also understand there is a movie in the works for the first book too. It could give Potter a good run for the money if they stay true to the books. But like Potter, and any book these days, there are many parts that seem very similar to past writings.

[kareemachan]

I have to say I was thrilled that the Harry Potter books pulled kids into reading. After reading them, they came clamoring (I volunteer at our school library) for something similar. Yes, we would point them towards the Bartimaeus Trilogy or Garth Nix or Tamora Pierce or Philip Pullman or Erin Hunter or .... I was just glad that some kids who might not have read as much were lured into reading more.