The estate
of late author Adrian Jacobs had said that the plot of the book, the fourth of
seven in the wildly successful series that has been turned into a
multi-billion-dollar film franchise, copied parts of the plot of his book
"Willy the Wizard," including a wizard contest, and that Rowling
borrowed the idea of wizards traveling on trains. Scholastic Corp, the US
publisher of the books, welcomed the move by judge Shira Scheindlin, quoting
the judge as saying "...the contrast between the total concept and feel of
the works is so stark that any serious comparison of the two strains
credulity."
"The Court's swift dismissal supports our position that
the case was completely without merit and that comparing Willy the Wizard to
the Harry Potter series was absurd," the firm said in a statement. In
October, a judge overseeing a similar plagiarism case at London's High Court
said that the claims made by Paul Allen, trustee of Jacobs's estate, were
"improbable," though he turned down an application by lawyers for
Rowling and her British publisher for an immediate judgment dismissing the
case.
According to his estate Jacobs, who wrote "The Adventures of Willy
the Wizard - No 1 Livid Land" in 1987, had at one point sought the
services of literary agent Christopher Little, who later became Rowling's agent.
It added that Jacobs died "penniless" in a London hospice in 1997.
