J.K. Rowling is furious over what she says is a totally absurd plagiarism lawsuit. The
lawsuit claims that she stole the idea of Harry Potter from a deceased author named Adrian
Jacobs. The estate found out that the statute of limitations had not run, so it filed suit.
The lawsuit claims that in 1987 Jacobs submitted
to Bloomsbury a number of stories about Willy the Wizard. Bloomsbury rejected the stories.
Jacobs' family members filed a lawsuit last June, claiming Rowling's 2000 book Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire steals segments of the writer's novel The Adventures of
Willy the Wizard - No 1 Livid Land. Rowling was named as a defendant in the lawsuit on
Wednesday after the trustee of Jacobs' estate, Paul Allen, realised the time limit to sue
the writer had not run out.
But Rowling has moved quickly to slam the accusation, insisting she has never even read
Jacobs' book and will be applying to have the claim dismissed immediately. In a statement,
she says: "The fact is I had never heard of the author or the book before the first accusation
by those connected to the author's estate in 2004; I have certainly never read the book.
"The claims that are made are not only unfounded but absurd and I am disappointed that I,
and my U.K. publisher Bloomsbury, are put in a position to have to defend ourselves. We
will be applying to the court immediately for a ruling that the claim is without merit and
should therefore be dismissed without delay."
Ah, the price of fame. Once an author hits the big time, lots of people come out of the
woodwork claiming plagiarism. Just ask Dan Brown. This case will most likely be dismissed,
but in the meantime, Jo Rowling has to pay her attorneys to defend the case and make
statements to clear her name.
