Friday, August 13, 2010

Gervais accused of Flanimals 'plagiarism'

12.08.10 | The Bookseller

Comedian and actor Ricky Gervais is being sued by an author claiming "The Office's" creator copied his work for the bestselling Flanimals books.

The BBC reports Norwich writer and artist John Savage has issued a High Court writ against Gervais claiming the books, which are published by Faber, copied his own unpublished Captain Pottie's Wildlife Encyclopedia.

He told the BBC: "The next stage is the High Court will be sent a copy of the writ to Mr Gervais' lawyers and they have two weeks to decide whether to defend or accede to my request."

A spokeswoman for Gervais said: "This story goes back several years, when John Savage first made contact with Ricky Gervais' representatives. At the time it was made clear that the concept and illustrations of Flanimals pre-existed John Savage's work. To date Ricky Gervais has not received any formal court proceedings from Mr Savage."

BBC News - full report.

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