An American newspaper is being sued for a reported $100m after allegedly publishing a sneak preview of the eagerly-awaited new Harry Potter book.
Author J.K. Rowling and her US publishers have filed a lawsuit against the Daily News in New York after it apparently published unauthorised extracts of the book.
The paper is said to have printed two pages of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - which is supposed to be one of the most closely guarded secrets of the literary world.
Reports said The News printed a story saying it had a "brief glimpse into the 870 action-packed pages".
It added: "If you don't want to know anything about how Harry and his pals spend their fifth year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, stop now and buy the book when it's officially released Saturday."
An accompanying graphic reportedly displayed, with readable text, what is said to be two of the novel's pages.
The News' website declared "Holy Hogwarts!", adding: "Hocus-Pocus! We've got Harry".
The website said that one of the News' reporters bought the book in a health food store in the New York borough Brooklyn.
It said the shop's owner, who it did not name, keeps a small book section and began selling the book after getting a delivery from a wholesaler.
The owner told the News he had not been told he should not sell them until 00.01 on Saturday, the website said.
US publishers Scholastic and Ms Rowling filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit "seeks damages in the tens of millions of dollars" for claims including copyright infringement.
Associated Press reported the lawsuit was for $100m - about £60m.
Other reports said that Ms Rowling's lawyers claim that as the article could be seen in Britain through the internet, it had broken an injunction banning any unauthorised advance publication of the book in the UK.
Posted by Sluggie at June 19, 2003 10:02 AM