Media and Press

JK versus AJ - JK Rowling's publishers in court
Wed 14th Jul 10 - 9:43

Keith Arrowsmith, Partner and Head of Intellectual Property and Media at Ralli says:  "JK Rowling's US publishers are being sued by the estate of Adrian Jacobs, the author of "The Adventures of Willy the Wizard No1: Livid Land".

Today's challenge follows a similar claim last year made at the London courts against the JK Rowling and her UK publishers, Bloomsbury. The dispute seems to have first surfaced in 2004.

Unless a resolution can be found, or the case is dropped, the courts will need to decide whether a "substantial copy" of Mr Jacobs' work has been taken and used in JK Rowling's later book. Ms Rowling is reported to assert that she had not heard of the author or the book at the relevant time, but the sole trustee of Mr Jacobs' estate believes he has a very strong case.

Copyright is a very powerful type of intellectual property, which will (if the claim succeeds) allow Mr Jacobs to claim for an account of the profits earned by Ms Rowling and her publishers. These types of claim highlight the need to keep careful records, and archives of how an author's material is created, to help show a judge the pedigree of literary works – however famous."