New York, June 19 (Reuters): The publisher and author of the Harry Potter novels yesterday sued New York’s Daily News after the tabloid published minor excerpts from the much-anticipated book, giving away part of the plot to fans.

Scholastic Inc. and author J.K. Rowling filed the lawsuit yesterday in the federal court for southern New York, accusing the newspaper of copyright infringement of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

“We will vigorously defend any action and are confident we did nothing wrong journalistically or legally,” Daily News spokesperson Ken Frydman said. In an article published yesterday, the newspaper reported it obtained a copy of the book at a store in the borough of Brooklyn.

The book, the fifth episode in the series, is set to be released at 12:01 am Saturday, with events planned from New York and London to Australia and many points in between. No advance copy was made available to the media as the publisher had hoped to keep the plot under wraps until the book’s release, stoking the curiosity of Potter fans.

Previous Harry Potter books have been a publishing phenomenon, selling millions of copies. The books have also spawned successful movies, toys and related paraphernalia.