Harry Potter plagiarism lawsuit could be billion-dollar case, says claimant
Friend of Willy the Wizard author Adrian Jacobs says addition of JK Rowling to suit raises possibility of multi-jurisdiction action
Harry Potter author JK Rowling arrives at an earlier court case in New York. Photograph: Getty
Publishers could face legal action worldwide over claims that JK Rowling stole ideas for Harry Potter from a British author's book called The Adventures of Willy the Wizard.
The estate of the late Adrian Jacobs yesterday added Rowling as a defendant in a case originally filed in June against Bloomsbury Publishing, Potter's UK publisher, for alleged copyright infringement.
Max Markson, a PR executive representing the estate, told the Guardian the addition of Rowling's name to the action opened up the possibility of multi-jurisdiction action.
"We believe that she [Rowling] personally plagiarised the Willy the Wizard book. All of Willy the Wizard is in the Goblet of Fire. We now have a case which is not just against Bloomsbury."
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