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Source: Daily Telegraph
Author: Joe Hildebrand
AN author who allegedly invented a Harry Potter-
Its alleged that in trying to publish his book Willy the Wizard in 1987, English writer Adrian Jacobs approached the same agent who went on to become Rowlings agent.
Jacobs estate last night issued proceedings in the High Court of England against
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, the publishers of the multi-
Sydney celebrity publicist Max Markson, who is promoting the action, said the damages could be up to $AU1 billion.
Jacobs created a character called Willy the Wizard in a 1987 book called The Adventures
of Willy the Wizard-
His estate claims that Rowlings 2000 book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire copies it substantially and the publisher Bloomsbury has infringed the copyright.
Gallery: Harry Potter all grown up
Mr Markson said the estate was also seeking a court order against JK Rowling herself in order to determine whether to join her as a defendant to the action.
The estate says both books describe the adventures of a main character who is a wizard and both 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-
Gallery: Magical 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 Rowlings literary agent in the Harry Potter series.
The Willy the Wizard book was ultimately published by Bachman and Turner in 1987, however following the stock market crash, Jacobs became bankrupt and died penniless in a London hospice in 1997, Mr Markson said.
"By contrast, today the Potter Brand is a multibillion dollar global entertainment phenomenon."
The Jacobs 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 Jacobs copyright.
Estate trustee Paul Allen 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.
