// John Lewis wins copyright dispute over its 2019 Christmas advert, Excitable Edgar
// The High court ruled in favour of the retailer and said there was “not a scrap of evidence” of copyright infringement
John Lewis has won a court battle over a copyright infringement claim against its 2019 Christmas advert featuring Excitable Edgar the dragon.
Children’s author Fay Evans sued the retailer and its advertising agency DDB claiming the retailer’s advert featured a “striking similarlity” to her debut book, Fred The Fire-Sneezing Dragon.
Today, Her Honour Judge Clarke dismissed the claim and said there was “not a scrap of evidence” that John Lewis or its agencies had seen Evans’ book before the legal battle started.
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“I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that… there can have been no copying,” she said.
Clarke pointed out that although both stories, at their base, were about “a friendly dragon which finds it difficult to control its fire”, the outline for John Lewis’ advert was first created in 2016 while Evans’ book was published in 2017.
Evans’ lawyers accepted this in court but argued other elements not in the 2016 outline had breached her copyright.
John Lewis maintained there were “numerous and substantial differences” and said there was no basis for claiming its staff or agency workers had seen Evans’ book due to its “limited sales”.
Evans has been ordered to publish the ruling on her website, which she had used to publicise the row.
A John Lewis spokesperson said: “We take great pride and care with our Christmas adverts and we’re glad the judge recognised the originality of Excitable Edgar. We’re pleased that the matter is now resolved after the court found that there was no copyright infringement.”
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