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JUNE 15, 2009 at 1:10 PM
Posted by CHEESER
Source: PR Newswire
The estate of author Adrian Jacobs sued Bloomsbury today for lifting storylines and events from his Willy the Wizard series in JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:
[In] 1987 Adrian Jacobs wrote the book The Adventures of Willy the Wizard-No 1 Livid Land, which describes the adventures of a wizard named Willy. The copyright allegation argues that the plot of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, published in 2000 and one of J.K. Rowling's best-selling books, is a copy of that to be found in Jacobs' book.
It is also alleged that Jacobs "sought the services" of Christopher Little for help finding a publisher, who became Rowling's literary agent a decade later.
The estate's press release goes on to say:
Both books describe the adventures of a main character, "Willy" in Jacobs' book and "Harry Potter" in Rowling's, who are wizards, who 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-human, half-animal fantasy creatures, "the merpeople" in Harry Potter.
Jacobs can also claim credit for the idea of wizards traveling by train, according to the estate.
He died in 1997, although it's unclear if Jacobs was aware of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by Bloomsbury that July, or if he even read it.
Representatives for Bloomsbury Publishing Plc told HPANA today:
...this claim is without merit and will be defended vigorously. The allegations of plagiarism made today, 15 June 2009, by the Estate of Adrian Jacobs are unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue.
JK 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 publicised Harry Potter series and after the publication of the first five books.
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.
This claim was first made in 2004 by solicitors in London acting on behalf of Adrian Jacobs' son who was the representative of his father's estate and who lives in the United States. The claim was unable to identify any text in the Harry Potter books which was said to copy Willy the Wizard.
The Bloomsbury response then digs quite a bit deeper:
The claim was largely based on the work of a man called David Markson who had been sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on 4 December 1989 to five years imprisonment for fraudulent trading and theft. He was also disqualified from acting as a company director for 15 years. David Markson is now said to be the literary agent of Adrian Jacob's estate and his brother Max Markson is handling the publicity for the estate in this case.
Following correspondence between lawyers over a period of three months in 2004 rejecting this claim, no more was heard about the claim until a new set of solicitors put forward the claim on a significantly different basis four years later in 2008 (eleven years after the publication of the first Harry Potter book) but still without identifying any text said to copy Willy the Wizard. These lawyers have stated that they are acting on behalf of a firm of solicitors in Wagga Wagga, Australia and on behalf of a West Midlands property developer who was appointed in 2008 as Trustee of the Estate in order to bring this claim. The claim is now made in respect of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which was published in 2000.
Adrian Jacobs was described in his 1989 bankruptcy petition as "an entrepreneur, financial and corporate consultant". Writing was very much a sideline and his book was of a very poor quality. He went bankrupt owing hundreds of thousands of pounds in 1960, 1965 and 1989.
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Student
Points: 289
angelmercysavior says:
This is bad.
One person gets a great idea, it gets turned into a movie and now when the whole series is almost, they want to sue!? The author is dead, I really don't think he is going care anymore. This would be probably be worse if he were still alive and why did they wait for so long??? Hello, series is OVER!!! Part 1 of Deathly Hallows is filming and HBP is not even in theaters yet...Get over it and live on with your lives. IT'S OVER, I TELL YOU, OVER!!! Leave Rowling alone, she did not do anything to anybody.
Posted Jun 16, 2009 at 7:37 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1333
humes says:
Sure it's not the other way around?
Anyway, claim will probably be settled out of court. Bogus as it sounds, I think Bloomsbury should take it seriously.
Posted Jun 16, 2009 at 7:54 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1392
SiriusFan says:
@ Juicybit: I agree with what you're saying.
Ever heard of Jane Yolen's Wizard's Hall? I don't know how I found it, or why I read it, but there's an article online about Yolen publicly voicing her dislike of Harry Potter. She called JK Rowling's work "very derivative."
As a writer, I can understand that it'd be nice to copyright an idea, but two people can have the same idea and write two completely different stories. This does not equal plagiarism in my humble opinion. This is why I don't share my ideas before I've written the story. Once I have my story written, then I could care less if someone takes the same idea and writes a story of their own. Maybe theirs will be better, maybe theirs will be worse than mine. *shrugs* It's crazy to think that every book ever written is based on an original idea. My two cents anyway.
Sources:
http://www.wizardnews.com/story.200508131.html
http://www.writerswrite.com/wblog.php?wblog=815051
Posted Jun 16, 2009 at 7:59 PM EST
Witch
Points: 819
accio_kim says:
uhh, this makes me kind of sad. i mean, i can't make judgment as to whether it's plagiarism or not. anyway, i prefer harry potter anyway, who cares about this Willy person!
Posted Jun 16, 2009 at 8:42 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1188
sirius'doll says:
In all honesty, if I were a judge on this case, I'd throw it straight out of court. The first thing that came to mind when I heard it on the news was, why on Earth did they wait so long before bringing this case forth.
I since read into it a little more, and found they filed in 2004, this still fails to explain why they waited 4 years before filing a law suit. And then a further 4 years to re-file, when clearly ALL the books were then written, and the movie franchise coming to a close in the forseeable future.
The second thought that popped into mind, if the characters were so similar, and the world that was created was nearly a mirror image, why wasn't this brought to light in 1997 when the 'boy wizard' made his first apperance.
Thirdly, the word plagarism, refers to a direct copy of someone elses work. I'm not sure if Mr Jacob's estate lawyers realised, but there is an extra 600 pages in JK Rowlings book GoF. Similarities do not describe plagarism, yes both characters boarded a train, but there weren't two schools. There was a competion, but they weren't the same tasks. Heck, JRR Tolkien's camp might as well jump on the band wagon seeing as he had a magical world, with different races. Had a task in LotR, with close compainions. Had a character that shouldered the brunt of the entire world to succeed. And by golly he had wizened old wizards, and a dark lord to boot.
In short, I would be rather disappointed if JK Rowlings team, or Bloomsbury settled this out of court, bending to the will of such a pathetic attempt at a money grab.
Posted Jun 16, 2009 at 8:47 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1054
dracolady says:
Yawn, such things are not new anymore and always seem to be happening. It's getting boring already.
Though I can't compare exactly how similar they are, because I haven't and don't intend to read the Willy books. But from reading this article alone, considering Willy's story didn't actually revolve around a wizard school (which means that it is not exactly the same), I don't think Willy will be able to sue successfully and that there probably won't be an actual lawsuit against JK. Even though JK might have gotten a few ideas (which she would definitely not have consciously copied from), she did not copy the entire story from Willy. Ideas can be copied without any problem, as long as there is not exact copying.
Let's give a fictitious example to illustrate this better. For instance, if a well-known novelist, let's call her Mary, writes a story about a queen marrying a frog which turns into a carpenter. Shortly after her story is published, a young novelist, let's call her Jane, writes a story about a princess who marries a frog which turns into a butcher, she would not be able to sue, because even though she copied Mary's basic idea, she did not copy exactly.
To me, JK's GOF Vs Willy sounds like a similar case to the fictitious one above, which reiterates my point. And also, if this turns out to be a marketing ploy by Willy to sell more copies, I'm definitely not going to fall victim to it.
Posted Jun 16, 2009 at 11:38 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2076
Feelin' Felix Felicis says:
Sounds like a bunch of rubbish to me. After all these years there is now a lawsuit? This is nothing but someone trying to get some attention and easy money. Ambulance chaser. I don't believe for one second that JK Rowling lifted anything from another story. That's bull. I hope she wins this lawsuit and crushes these fools.
Posted Jun 17, 2009 at 12:42 AM EST
Witch
Points: 839
FutureWeasley says:
I personally don't see the problem. If it is different characters and different storylines, I don't think it's plagurism. But that's just me
Posted Jun 17, 2009 at 1:31 AM EST
Witch
Points: 803
FawkesRox says:
Are they really serious about this? Oh my effing gosh I can't believe this! People will try to make money out of anything! The guy's been dead for about twelve years for Pete's sake!
Seriously.
Posted Jun 17, 2009 at 3:06 AM EST
Antipodean Snow Goddess
Points: 3070
Tikihaha says:
These lawyers have stated that they are acting on behalf of a firm of solicitors in Wagga Wagga, Australia ...
What ...?!! Wagga Wagga lawyers?! Well, stone the crows mate and put another prawn on the barbie, this legal team must be flasher than a rat with a gold tooth!!
Posted Jun 17, 2009 at 5:59 AM EST
Facotrot Founder
Points: 4737
Aurora_7 says:
The people sueing have so little credibility. I'm sure JKR and Bloomsbury are just wondering when all this nonsense is going to stop...
Posted Jun 17, 2009 at 9:41 AM EST
Auror
Points: 2251
Snufflesmom says:
I think that if the suit had been filed by the author or in a more timely manner, then maybe there would be a possibility. Now, years later, it sounds like a money grab to me. The fact that the "agent" for the plaintifs has already been discredited by the legal and publishing industry gives you pause.
I think though, that Bloomsbury and JKR will be proven innocent of all assertions.
Posted Jun 17, 2009 at 11:18 AM EST
Witch
Points: 633
filipipa says:
There are indeed a lot of similarities between the plots, but well, people who are miles away from each other often have the same ideas (the first example that comes to my mind is Darwin's natural selection theory - while he created it, another scientist from another country also came up with the same idea at the same time, only with a different name - it happens relatively often). Also, there are a lot of books and novels about magical schools that share a lot of points in common - that's probably due to the fact that many authors like to research a bit on folklore about magic around the world before writing a story about it - like JKRowling did (and I have to say that she used the myths and legends she gathered in a wonderful and intelligent way). Take for an example, Zero no Tsukaima (Zero's Familiar) - a collection of japanese light novels where there also exists a magic school (a castle like Hogwarts, even though not as big) with uniforms just like the uniforms at Hogwarts, where the wizards also use small wooden wands like the wizards in Harry Potter. People just happen to have the same ideas, most of the time, and I’m not being ironic, really. JK is an awesome writer and she wrote a saga that will be remembered forever and ever - i guess people just want to make profit of that in any way they can. Sad, indeed.
Posted Jun 17, 2009 at 1:34 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2860
mad_eye muggle says:
Man....you really can't avoid law suits these days.I'm just curious why now?why not ages ago...The price of success is indeed has its cons.
Posted Jun 17, 2009 at 11:57 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1384
Luna! says:
Wow, this is really pathetic.
People are leeches, the moment something good and brilliant and extraordinary comes out they always try to latch onto it and suck the money and profit out of it every way that they can.
The series is over, deathly hallows has been written. HBP has been filmed and the first part of Deathly Hallows is in filming.
This guy is dead, he owed hundreds of thousands of pounds because he went bankrupt and J.K. had never even seen or heard of this book when she wrote Harry Potter.
Probly because this book was short and not very good and not very well distributed.
These people are just trying to cash in on the big frenzy, next minute we'll probly get someone sueing Twilight because Stephenie got the name of "Harry Clearwater" from Harry Potter.
It's ridiculous and there has to be some sort of moral line that seperates the greed. Especially when they're just trying to take away the credit that J.K. so deserves for coming up with such a brilliant idea that has inspired so many across the world.
Posted Jun 18, 2009 at 3:47 AM EST
Prof. Alfred W. Mandoore
Points: 2445
JAYSTARR says:
Amazing...How things tend to surface throughout the years. A Wizard called Willy? This is of course never heard of...I will check on this so call book this summer. After, I see the Half Blood Price movie.
Posted Jun 18, 2009 at 7:56 PM EST
Witch
Points: 763
Green is Good! says:
Oh, please. Has ANYBODY ever heard of Adrian Jacobs, aside from the Bankruptcy Court?
Adrian didn't have a penny to leave to whatever alleged family he has left. So now it's time to sue the rich, successful lady! Maybe she'll throw a million at them to make them go away. Pathetic.
Posted Jun 19, 2009 at 3:50 PM EST
Auror
Points: 3252
Tenshi says:
Umm it sounds nothing alike. And it's only very slightly, if at all. He may as well say the archetypes in the entire series were lifted off of something else.
Posted Jun 23, 2009 at 10:29 PM EST
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