JK Rowling accused of stealing Harry Potter

The family of a dead writer has accused JK Rowling of plagiarizing parts of her Harry Potter books. Adrian Jacobs wrote a book called The Adventures of Willy the Wizard - No 1 Livid Land and died in 1997. Now the owners of his estate say JK used part of his book to write her fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. They have brought a lawsuit against JK, her publishers, Bloomsbury Publishing, and her agent, Christopher Little, and expect to get up to one billion dollars.

JK has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit. She says she had never even heard of Adrian or read his book. “I am disappointed that I and my UK publisher, Bloomsbury, are put in a position to have to defend ourselves,” she says. This is not the first time someone has accused JK of plagiarism. In 2002 a US writer called Nancy Stouffer brought a lawsuit against her saying that Harry Potter was a lot like a character in one of her books called Latter Potter. Nancy lost her case.