Rowling sued over copycat allegation

SYDNEY: J.K. Rowling has been named in a lawsuit alleging she stole ideas for her wildly popular and lucrative Harry Potter books from another British author.

The estate of the late Adrian Jacobs on Wednesday added Rowling as a defendant in a lawsuit it filed in June against Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for alleged copyright infringement, according to a statement released 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 Jacobs' 1987 book, The Adventures of Willy the Wizard - No 1 Livid Land.