• 'Harry Potter' author hit with plagiarism lawsuit

    J.K. Rowling has been named in a lawsuit alleging she stole ideas for her wildly popular and lucrative "Harry Potter" books from another British author.

    The estate of the late Adrian Jacobs on Wednesday added Rowling as a defendant in a lawsuit it filed in June against Bloomsbury Publishing PLC for alleged copyright infringement, according to a statement released by the estate's representatives, who are based in Australia.

    The lawsuit, filed in a London court, claims Rowling's book "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" copied substantial parts of Jacobs' 1987 book, "The Adventures of Willy the Wizard — No. 1 Livid Land." Jacobs' estate also claims that many other ideas from "Willy the Wizard" were copied into the "Harry Potter" books. Jacobs died in London in 1997.

    "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is the fourth book in Rowling's series and was published in July 2000.

    Sydney agent Max Markson, who is representing the trustee of Jacobs' estate, Paul Allen, said Rowling was added to the lawsuit after Allen learned that the statute of limitations to sue her had not run out, as previously thought.

    "I estimate it's a billion-dollar case," Markson said Thursday. "That'll be the decision of the courts, obviously."

    There was no immediate comment from Rowling. In June, Bloomsbury said the allegation that Rowling lifted from Jacobs' work was "unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue." Bloomsbury said Jacobs' estate first approached the company in 2004 with its claims, but was unable to identify any text in the "Harry Potter" books that was copied from "Willy the Wizard."

    In a statement, Allen said the estate is also seeking legal advice on whether the Harry Potter films and soon-to-be-opened Harry Potter theme park breach copyright law.

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  • Oscar nominees revel in newfound glory

    Not long ago, Lee Daniels received a phone call out of left field: George Lucas had seen his film "Precious" and wanted the director to come to his Skywalker Ranch for a visit. Daniels flew up north, had lunch with Lucas and even spent the night in one of his cottages.

    "I was nervous and intimidated at first," recalls Daniels, who brought along his leading lady, Gabourey Sidibe. "Then we just kicked back and talked about life and about how the film affected him and his girlfriend. We also talked how sound can help me on my next movie, because I have limited funds. It was a really chill conversation."

    Daniels says he now has a new friend whom "I can feel free to call for further advice."

    Having Lucas as a mentor is just one of the doors that have opened for Daniels as a result of "Precious." And he's not alone: For many of this year's Oscar nominees, the success of their films has resulted in unimaginable job offers, higher paychecks, more respect within the industry and incoming phone calls from Hollywood power players.

    Daniels, who is nominated in two categories -- best picture and best director -- says he's been offered up to $2.5 million to direct everything from a Western to a musical. That's a far cry from the roughly $600,000 he received for "Precious," which he also produced.

    Thanks to the film, he's now in discussions with Hugh Jackman, Liam Neeson and Robert De Niro on different projects, while working on his next movie, "Selma," a civil rights movement drama for Pathe Films and an untitled pilot which he's directing and executive producing for HBO, about a black millionaire and his dysfunctional family in Philadelphia.

    "Before, I complained that I would only get considered for a specific type of film, but now they're all over the place," he says. "It's liberating to be looked at as filmmaker, not an 'African-American' filmmaker. That's career-changing for me."

    The unpredictable nature of the business has meant best actor nominee Jeremy Renner has had a side job for the past eight years: He and business partner Kristoffer Winters develop property in Los Angeles, renovating and then selling the homes.

    In fact, while Renner is attending all the black-tie events for "The Hurt Locker," by day he and Winters are busy refurbishing Preston Sturges' old home in Hollywood. (Sturges bought the house in 1936 from Lois Weber, the first woman to produce, direct, star in and co-write a feature film, a nice coincidence considering his "Locker" filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow has a shot at becoming the first female director to win an Academy Award.)

    "I make more money doing that, which allows me the freedom to choose the projects I want to do," says Renner, who recently sold a restored house for about $4 million. "I'll always act, but I'll never be forced to do it because there are bills to pay."

    Renner is in talks with Universal and director Peter Berg about taking the lead role in "Battleship." He's also had no fewer than five meetings to star in another project, which he declines to reveal. Both films are expected to shoot in the summer, so Renner will be choosing between the two.

    But first he'll squeeze in indie "Raven," a period thriller with Ewan McGregor in talks to co-star. "('Locker' has) allowed me to exhale and go, 'OK, now I can really start,'" Renner says. "Maybe it's a form of arrival, maybe it's a type of beginning."

    Speaking of beginnings, "Precious'" Sidibe says she has found her calling. A former psych major at Mercy College in New York, who had thought of becoming a psychotherapist, she says she's found her "calling" and has left school to pursue her craft.

    Despite the "Precious" frenzy, Sidibe has found time to go on two auditions, both of which she booked: The Sundance lab feature "Yelling to the Sky," and a Bill Condon-directed pilot, "The Big C," which was picked up by Showtime. Sidibe says she's had many meetings, not because she's "that girl in 'Precious,'" but "because I'm not that girl in 'Precious,'" as she's made clear in her bubbly appearances on the talk-show circuit.

    Mark Boal has also shifted plans, to some degree. The "Hurt Locker" writer, who spent years as a journalist writing for Rolling Stone and Playboy, is now pretty much a full-time screenwriter and producer, though he admits "I still have a toe in the door at Rolling Stone." His next project carries him further into the film arena: He's writing and producing "Triple Frontier" for Paramount, with Bigelow to direct.

    "I have a lot of ideas for movies and 'The Hurt Locker' has given me the opportunity to have access to talk seriously about them to people I admire," says Boal, nominated for best original screenplay and, as producer, best picture. Thanks to his recent success, he's met with such actors as Sean Penn, Javier Bardem, Denzel Washington and Christian Bale about possible collaborations.

    Supporting actor nominee Christoph Waltz has also been meeting with pretty much everyone. Since "Inglourious Basterds," he has been offered the part of Chudnofsky in Columbia's "The Green Hornet" and he's met with David Cronenberg to star in "The Talking Cure" with Keira Knightley.

    "The interest and the enthusiasm that's coming my way is overwhelming," he notes. "I'm so happy that finally we can discuss WHAT we want to do, not HOW to pull it off. The path has cleared for me to discuss ideas with interesting and open people who can make it happen."

    Waltz also has made a deal to direct his feature debut, a German film for Fox's European division. After directing a 2000 German TV project, he'll now segue to the comedy "Up, Up and Away" --- but it has no start date as he is focusing on all his new acting opportunities.

    Another oversees film star is seeing her stock rise in the U.S. thanks to her Oscar-nominated performance in "An Education."

    "Before I had trouble getting parts because I wasn't enough of a name," says "An Education's" Carey Mulligan. Case in point -- when she heard that one of her favorite books, "Never Let Me Go," would become a movie, "I was desperate to be in it," says the actress. Even though she auditioned and the producers were interested in her, things were not looking promising since, "I wasn't 'financeable,'" Mulligan says.

    All that changed when the film won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and Mulligan's stock rose. She found herself cast in the film, which also stars Knightley.

    Things only got better from there. Filmmaker Oliver Stone saw "An Education" and personally called Mulligan to ask if she'd consider playing Michael Douglas' daughter in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." No audition necessary.

    "Oliver Stone rang me on my mobile," says a still-incredulous Mulligan. "That's not normal. That's the most surreal thing to have happened to me."

    Despite not having to read for Stone, Mulligan says of the future, "I hope I still have to go in an audition for roles."

    It may sound like a strange statement now that she's in a rarified world where most of her Oscar-nominated peers are "offer only" hires. For Mulligan however, it's about proving her worth.

    "I'm scared NOT to audition because then it feels like I haven't earned the job," she says. "It's nice to have done the audition and say, 'I passed the exam,' rather than have people hire me and then hope that I can play the role. I feel very unqualified, otherwise."

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  • Longtime Leno bandleader Kevin Eubanks may exit

    Jay Leno's longtime bandleader, Kevin Eubanks, may not play very long once the Leno troupe returns to "The Tonight Show."

    NBC said Tuesday that Eubanks has expressed interest in personal touring and recording. The network says he will be part of the show when it reoccupies late night March 1, but his continued involvement is uncertain.

    The 52-year-old Eubanks, whose duties include comic sideman to Leno as well as guitarist, has been a fixture since Leno took the reins of "The Tonight Show" in 1992. He became musical director when Branford Marsalis left in 1995.

    Eubanks was also part of "The Jay Leno Show," the NBC prime-time flop that just ended.

    Leno is returning as "Tonight Show" host, a job he held for 17 years until giving it up to Conan O'Brien last May.

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  • 7 'Idol' contestants make it to semifinals

    Seven "American Idol" contestants can stop worrying, for now: They're in the top 24.

    The Fox TV singing contest revealed the first of the lucky semifinalists on Tuesday's show. They are: Didi Benami, 23, of Los Angeles; Lee Dewyze, 23, Mount Prospect, Ill.; Katelyn Epperly, 19, West Des Moines, Iowa; Aaron Kelly, 16, Sonestown, Pa.; Casey James, 27, Fort Worth, Texas; Todrick Hall, 24, Arlington, Texas; and Michael "Big Mike" Lynche, 26, of Astoria, N.Y.

    The other 17 semifinalists chosen by the show's four-judge panel will be revealed on Wednesday's episode in the culmination of "Hollywood Week" auditions.

    Sentiment ruled Tuesday among the few who emerged from the remaining field of 71 contestants.

    Lynche, who last week was shown listening in by cell phone as his wife gave birth to their daughter, had a message for the newborn: "Coming to take care of you. Big Daddy's coming."

    Benami said she was competing with an "angel" on her side, her late best friend.

    "She would have wanted to do this so much, and she never got the chance to. And I have the chance to do this," said Benami, who wept when the judges gave her a thumbs-up.

    Hall was incredulous but upbeat.

    "Momma? Guess who's in the top 24?" he said, breaking the good news in a phone call. A dancer without formal training as a singer, he said he was inspired to audition after appearing in the stage musical "The Color Purple" with past "Idol" winner Fantasia.

    The judges, including newcomer Ellen DeGeneres, also ended dreams Tuesday. Some took it better than others.

    "It wasn't my time right now," said a composed Shelby Dressel of Avon Park, Fla. The 19-year-old, who was born with partial facial paralysis, added: "Let people see, regardless of any insecurity, just be you."

    Simon Cowell, marking his ninth and final season as judge, responded with an unusual flash of regret. "It's the wrong decision," he murmured.

    Jessica Furney, 21, of Wamego, Kan., made a less graceful exit.

    "I can do this. Do not send me home. I have it," pleaded Furney, who tried out last season as well.

    The judges attempted to soothe her, with DeGeneres suggesting it wasn't the end of the road for her career. Furney was unmoved.

    "How do you know that?" she demanded. That prompted Randy Jackson to offer more impromptu counseling — until Cowell could endure no more and dismissed her with, "Jessica, that's it."

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  • Ricky Martin calls for focus on human trafficking

    Puerto Rico needs more effective legislation to halt human trafficking in the U.S. Caribbean territory, Latin superstar Ricky Martin said Monday.

    Martin was visiting his native island to present a study conducted by the nonprofit Ricky Martin Foundation, a group advocating children's rights globally.

    The 91-page report concludes that sex tourism and human trafficking are serious problems in Puerto Rico, and that the island is used as a transit point for smuggled women and children.

    "This is happening on our island," said Martin, a winner of multiple Grammy awards, as he presented the study at the University of Puerto Rico. "We cannot turn our back on the victims."

    Luis Cdebaca, director of the U.S. State Department's division of human-trafficking monitoring, praised the singer — perhaps best-known for his "Livin' the Vida Loca" single — for bringing attention to human trafficking and other forms of modern-day slavery. He said traffickers are thriving in Puerto Rico and across the U.S. mainland.

    "What we are dealing with is a situation where people are suffering because no one is hearing their voice," he said.

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  • Hollywood loves a bad boy: Oscar shows a dark side

    For your consideration: A pedophile serial killer with a creepy dollhouse hobby, a murderous Nazi who delights in tormenting Jews, and a hateful mother who abuses her daughter and granddaughter.

    Hollywood loves a bad boy and so does Oscar, with academy voters nominating several roles this year that are less than cordial, if not downright crazy.

    There's Christoph Waltz for his chilling performance as smooth-talking, Jew-hunting Nazi Col. Hans Landa in "Inglourious Basterds"; Stanley Tucci for his scary, blue-eyed turn as pedophile George Harvey in "The Lovely Bones"; and Mo'Nique for her role as Mary Jones, the abusive mother in "Precious."

    So what is it about iniquitous villains that actors, moviegoers and members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences find so compelling?

    "I think we take a vicarious pleasure in the problems that they present, in the pain that they inflict, and not least of which in the demise that they suffer at some point," says Stephen Lang, who plays the vengeful, scar-faced military officer Miles Quaritch in "Avatar."

    "It's like having a vaccine," says Karen Sternheimer, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California. "It's a low dose of something that you really don't want to experience in real life, a way of experiencing something really awful about the human condition from a safe distance."

    This season's crop of nefarious characters highlights a long-standing pattern among academy voters of tending toward the dark side.

    In 1932, Fredric March won best actor for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." And who can forget Louise Fletcher's winning role as the cold-hearted Nurse Ratched in 1975's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Then there's Anthony Hopkins' unforgettable 1991 portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs."

    Yet academy voters seem to be embracing the unsavory even more of late, reflecting a change in what kinds of roles might be considered Oscar-worthy, says Tom O'Neill, a writer for the awards-tracking Web site, TheEnvelope.com.

    "We're seeing cutthroat Hollywood exposing themselves in a clear trend ... a broader acceptance that these (evil) roles are artistic," he says. "We're seeing more artistic movies become darker."

    Take Heath Ledger's posthumous Oscar last year for his supporting role as the Joker in "The Dark Knight," a villain so vicious that playing him reportedly kept the actor up nights. Another bad guy, Javier Bardem's cattlegun-wielding Anton Chigurh in "No Country for Old Men," took the same prize the previous year.

    Tilda Swinton won the supporting actress Oscar for her 2007 role as a heartless, scheming attorney in "Michael Clayton." Daniel Day Lewis took home the golden guy that same year for his leading performance as ruthless, murderous oil man Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood." Before that, Forest Whitaker won for his turn as Idi Amin, the corrupt, bloodthirsty Ugandan dictator, in "The Last King of Scotland."

    "We all have a bit of the dark passenger in us," says Sara Colleton, executive producer of Showtime's "Dexter," which follows a forensic specialist who moonlights as a serial killer of bad guys. "'Dexter' allows us, in a very safe environment, to explore a lot of moral boundaries."

    The actors who take on these roles get even closer to that age-old struggle than viewers and voters do.

    Waltz says it was tough to play Nazi Landa, a character for whom "good and evil are categories that are not really all that relevant in his life."

    "That's what makes it so challenging, because my little mind operates within the framework of good and evil," he says, "and now there is someone in front of you that you're trying to suss out who does not make these categories his frame of mind."

    Tucci, meanwhile, was afraid yet intrigued about taking on the role of the murderous pedophile in "The Lovely Bones."

    "It's everything that you kind of hate and fear, and for that reason, it's interesting to dive into it," he says.

    The actor was attracted to the part for the same reason viewers are drawn to watching such characters: "They're always so interesting because they walk a fine line," he says. "We want to see them get away with things and we want to see them get caught. We want to see how they're not going to get caught. They're smart, and it's exciting.

    "People are attracted to people who are on the edge."

    Still, Tucci was just as eager to shed the creepy character when filming wrapped. "I want to not think about this ever again," he said, so he shifted gears by playing Julia Child's happy husband, Paul, in "Julie & Julia."

    Sternheimer, the sociologist, says our attraction to wicked characters dates back to ancient Greece and the catharsis audiences experienced while watching morality tales on stage.

    "There's always been a dark side to humanity," she says. "If anything is different now, it's just that there are so many more ways to experience these kinds of characters."

    Lang thinks the growing number — and growing appreciation — of villainous characters may be "sort of a postmodern phenomena."

    "Things have gotten really complicated in our world," he says. "I'm sure they always were, but there was a certain time in the movies when it was black hats and white hats, good guys and bad guys, and I think that has changed... It comes with this age."

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  • Keener, Holofcener present comedy in Berlin

    Catherine Keener stars as a guilt-ridden antiques trader in U.S. director Nicole Holofcener's "Please Give," a comedy of very awkward manners screening at the Berlin film festival.

    In the movie, which had its international premiere Tuesday, Keener and Oliver Platt play a couple whose business is sustained by buying artifacts from families of the recently deceased. Amanda Peet and Rebecca Hall also star.

    Writer-director Holofcener ("Friends With Money," "Walking and Talking") said of the subject matter that "we can find humor in almost anything — I try to."

    Keener said she thought her character in the film is a good person, although "I think the bar's not very high for being a good person."

    The Berlin festival opened last Thursday and ends Feb. 21.

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