J.K. Rowling Slapped with Lawsuit

A British author's estate has sued J.K. Rowling, alleging that she stole ideas for her megapopular Harry Potter books, according to The Associated Press.

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The lawsuit, filed in a London court Monday by the late Adrian Jacobs' estate, claims that Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire copied substantial parts of Jacobs' 1987 book The Adventures of Willy the Wizard — No. 1 Livid Land. The author's estate also claims several other ideas from Willy the Wizard were used in Harry Potter books.

Max Markson, an agent representing an estate trustee, estimates it will be a billion-dollar case. (Jacobs died in 1997.)

Rowling maintained the allegations were untrue.

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"I am saddened that yet another claim has been made that I have taken material from another source to write Harry," Rowling said. "The fact is I had never heard of the author or the book before the first accusation by those connected to the author's estate in 2004; I have certainly never read the book."