Retailers John Lewis are said to be 'surprised' over a high court legal bid launched by a Macclesfield writer.

Author, storyteller and musical theatre maker Fay Evans (48) is taking legal action in the High Court's specialist Intellectual Property Enterprise Court against John Lewis Plc and the creative team behind its critically acclaimed 2019 Christmas advert, Excitable Edgar.

The children's author claims the retailer's much-loved TV advert bears a 'striking similarity' (as pleaded in the Particulars of Claim) to her first-ever picture book, Fred The Fire-Sneezing Dragon, which she self published in September 2017.

Two years since the advert was released on 14 November 2019, Evans has now issued proceedings to the specialist Intellectual Property division of the High Court of Justice for England and Wales.

The copyright infringement claim was served on joint defendants John Lewis Plc and its advertising agency DDB UK Limited (trading as adam&eve) earlier this month following pre-action legal correspondence between their solicitors.

The joint defendants have now both filed an acknowledgment of the claim and have until 22 December 2021 to submit a defence.

John Lewis has said they are "surprised" to have been served legal papers, as they provided Evans with time-stamped documents showing the concept for the Christmas campaign was first presented to them in early 2016 - one year and seven months before Evans published her book.

Evans is being represented by Manchester law firm Brandsmiths, Intellectual Property Litigation specialists for brands and entrepreneurs.

Her lawyers used a biblical simile to compare the Macclesfield mum taking on the public limited company.

Andy Lee, Partner and Head of Intellectual Property at Brandsmiths said: "We are very happy to be representing Fay in this David versus Goliath battle.

"The IPEC was established precisely for cases such as this; to give access to justice at a proportionate cost to those who might not be able to otherwise bring a claim, particularly against much larger and well resourced opponents."

Macclesfield-based children's author, storyteller and musical theatre maker Fay Evans said: "Within ten minutes of the 2019 John Lewis Christmas advert being released online I was inundated with messages regarding the resemblance to my book.

"I've since heard from many readers who genuinely thought that I had worked with the makers of the advert and that they were watching Fred's story on the television.

"I am totally confident in the validity of my claim and have received an overwhelming amount of public support. I want to take a stand for all creative artists - including writers, illustrators and musicians - whether they are relatively unknown or at the top of their game, the same principle applies.

"The original creative work we strive with all our heart to develop and publish is fundamentally protected by the law of copyright."

Since publishing her debut picture book in 2017, Evans has undertaken author visits to around 100 UK primary schools. Together with her second illustrated rhyming story Bob's Beard released in 2018, Evans has sold in excess of 3,000 books.

Evans is currently working with a composer, creative team and theatre industry Partners (including The Lowry in Salford) to create Fred: The Musical an interactive theatre show for young children based on her book, Fred The Fire-Sneezing Dragon.

Fay claimed fans of the author took to social media to point out the resemblance between Edgar, a little green dragon with a fiery affliction, and the heartwarming tale of Fred The Fire-Sneezing Dragon, which can be purchased on Amazon.

Evans' 2017 book is an illustrated rhyming story about a little green dragon that causes chaos with his uncontrollable fiery emissions.

The solitary dragon is scorned by the human folk around him, until he wins their admiration at the end of the story by emitting a blast of fire which cooks food to perfection.

Fay added: "When I watched the [2019] John Lewis Christmas advert for the first time, I was gobsmacked – I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing unfold before me. The visual resemblance to the main character in Fred The Fire-Sneezing Dragon and the narrative similarity throughout was striking."

"Even a two-year-old girl recognised the dragon in the John Lewis advert as Fred, the main character from her favourite book, when she watched it on TV with her mum.

"I was also contacted by a primary school teacher who told me her entire class of six and seven year olds genuinely thought that Fred had made it on to television."

Shocked by the likeness, Evans posted on Twitter showing an illustration from her book alongside one from the Excitable Edgar picture book John Lewis published to accompany the two-and-a-half minute advert. It received 400 likes, and her story was later published that year in The Guardian and The Sun.

She invited followers to 'spot the difference' and generated thousands of social media shares and hundreds of supportive comments.

When contacted by the media in December 2019, a spokesperson for John Lewis commented: "There are lots and lots of stories about dragons, but Edgar is an original character developed by our creative agency, as is our story."

The copyright infringement claim was served on joint defendants John Lewis Plc and its advertising agency DDB UK Limited (trading as adam&eve) earlier this month following pre-action legal correspondence between their solicitors. The joint defendants have now both filed an acknowledgment of the claim and have until 22 December 2021 to submit a Defence.

A spokesperson for John Lewis has said this month: "We strongly deny that we have copied or drawn any inspiration from the book, and will be robustly defending the claim."

In response, Fay Evans described the documents as "utterly irrelevant" to the copyright infringement claim.

Andy Lee of Brandsmiths says: "Whilst it is true John Lewis have provided us with their side of the story and some documents, it goes no further than that. Our client does not accept what they have said.

"Neither that side of the story, or any documents, have been the subject of judicial scrutiny. Indeed, as part of the proceedings the veracity of any documents, and the creation process of the John Lewis material will be one of the core issues in the case for determination."

John Lewis has previously been accused of 'helping themselves' to the story from another children's picture book for their Christmas TV ad.

In 2017 author and illustrator Chris Riddell, a former Children's Laureate (not from Macclesfield), pointed out the similarities between his book Mr Underbed and the John Lewis Christmas commercial.

The retailer's 2017 advert featured a friendly blue monster who lives under a little boy's bed. Chris Riddell accused John Lewis of 'helping themselves' to the story from his picture book, published in 1986.

Coincidentally, in both Chris and Fay's instances, it was for the first book's they published.

However, there have not been any plagiarism claims for the 2021 John Lewis Christmas advert, from Macclesfield Nub News research.

You can support the Macclesfield creative's campaign by using the social media hashtags #JusticeForFred

with #JohnLewisAdvert. Fay lives off Macclesfield's Congleton Road, and has one child. You can book her to read in schools across Macclesfield for FREE, can be found online here. She also has a Facebook. [I]Macclesfield: Have you signed up for our Friday weekly newsletter containing each week's top 10 Macclesfield news stories, and one FREE exclusive article? 970 of you have signed up already. Simply enter your email address into the shaded box below. Free from pop-up ads, or unwanted surveys, Macclesfield Nub News is a quality online newspaper which produces 25-30 stories a week for our town. As well as Twitter, you can also find us on Facebook.