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Source: PR Newswire

Author: Markson Sparks Ltd

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."

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