JK Rowling has begun legal action against a US newspaper after it allegedly published a sneak preview of her new book on the Internet.
The author's lawyers said they were suing the New York Daily Newsfor allegedly posting details of the eagerly awaited fifth novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, on its Internet edition.
Ms Rowling's lawyers alleged 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 Britain.
Merseyside police are hunting thieves who stole a lorry packed with 7,680 copies of the book from a trading estate at Newton-le-Willows on Sunday night.
The US publishers have printed a record 8.5 million copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The book already has advance sales of over a million in America.
PA