Harry Potter publisher denies plagiarism claim

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-16 09:36

"It is alleged that all of these are concepts first created by Adrian Jacobs in Willy the Wizard, some 10 years before J.K. Rowling first published any of the Harry Potter novels and 13 years before Goblet of Fire was published."

According to the statement, Jacobs had sought the services of literary agent Christopher Little who later became Rowling's agent. Jacobs died "penniless" in a London hospice in 1997, it said.

In its response, Bloomsbury said 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, almost seven years after the publication of the first book in the highly publicized Harry Potter series.

"Willy the Wizard is a very insubstantial booklet running to 36 pages which had very limited distribution. The central character of Willy the Wizard is not a young wizard and the book does not revolve around a wizard school."

Bloomsbury added that the claim was first made in 2004 by solicitors acting on behalf of Jacobs' son, who was the representative of his father's estate.

"The claim was unable to identify any text in the Harry Potter books which was said to copy Willy the Wizard."

Previous 1 2 Next Page