JK Rowling drawn into plagiarism court battle

JK ROWLING has been named in a lawsuit claiming she stole ideas for her Harry Potter books from another British author.

The estate of the late Adrian Jacobs yesterday added Rowling as a defendant in a lawsuit it filed in June against Bloomsbury Publishing for alleged copyright infringement, according to a statement by the estate's representatives, who are based in Australia.

The lawsuit, filed in a London court, claims Rowling's book Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire copied substantial parts of Mr Jacobs' 1987 book The Adventures Of Willy the Wizard – No 1 Livid Land.

Mr Jacobs' estate also claims that many other ideas from Willy The Wizard were copied into the Harry Potter books. Mr Jacobs died in London in 1997.

Ms Rowling has rejected the claims, describing them as absurd.

She said: "I had never heard of the author or the book before the first accusation."