August 4, 2003 (London) - The Supreme Court of India today dealt a blow to the entire literary profession when it rejected the appeal by bestselling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford in her fight against plagiarism. Despite a videotaped admission of guilt by the director of the series and evidence pointing to hundreds of similarities between the TV series and Bradford's bestselling novel, India's highest court refused to overturn a judgement made last month by an Indian Appeals Court.

"In failing to instate a permanent injunction against the Sahara Network to prevent them from broadcasting an 'Indianized' version of A Woman of Substance, the Supreme Court of India has given Bollywood a green light to plagiarize the work of any author without fear of penalty," expressed Mrs. Bradford. "Not even a blatant admission of guilt by the show's Producer/Director was enough to sway the judicial system in India. Though we were warned that getting a fair judgement in India was unlikely, we believed that our case of copyright infringement was significant, based on substantial evidence, most of which was not properly considered."

In an interview with an Indian Magazine, Cine Blitz, Akashdeep, stated, "I don't know why Indians make such a fuss over originality. There are three books by Barbara Taylor Bradford, including A Woman of Substance, Hold The Dream and To Be The Best. We have Indianized it. I didn't want to take a chance with a new script. It's a tried and tested subject."

Bradford's legal team compiled substantial evidence of direct plagiarism, seeking to prevent the Sahara Network from airing Karishma-Miracle of Destiny. Among the proof was a chart of comparison listing pages of similarities between the show's first six episodes and the novel A Woman of Substance, plus a videotaped interview with the series Director, Akashdeep, who stated that he had taken the series from Bradford. In a decision, based on no legal precedent, none of this evidence was permitted for presentation.

In response to the failure of the court to admit her strongest evidence, Mrs. Bradford remarked, "Clearly this judgement will further embolden infringers to violate intellectual property rights in India, especially by the Bollywood community, who continuously duplicate bestselling films and books. By 'Indianizing' our works, infringers will continue to blatantly violate trademarks and copyrights, knowing full well that the Indian legal system will not even accept an admission of guilt as admissible."

Mrs. Bradford, who was not seeking monetary damages in this case, was absolved by the Supreme Court of any penalties, as handed down by the Appeals Court on July 21^st. As well, she was given the option of seeking a prolonged trial in the Indian legal system, should she wish to continue. However, based on the highly questionable treatment received in the Indian court system to date, Mrs. Bradford will take this matter no further.

Said Bradford, "I would like to thank everyone in the literary community who has lent support and encouragement in my quest to fight plagiarism in India. I am particularly grateful to the thousands of readers in India who came forward to express their approval over my actions. Perhaps even despite this judgement, my effort will cause others to think twice before stealing copyrighted work by any author."

A decision in May by the High Court of India had kept the series off the airwaves for more than six weeks. Based on evidence, India's Supreme Court had upheld this injunction, providing Bradford with something of a moral victory, prior to the present judgement.

A Woman of Substance, which was originally published in 1979 by Doubleday in the US and Harper-Collins in the UK, is widely recognized as one of the top-selling fiction books in history, having sold over 24 million copies to date. The novel about the improbable rise to prominence of department store matriarch and business entrepreneur, Emma Harte has spawned two bestselling sequels (Hold The Dream in 1985 and To Be The Best in 1988), plus an Emmy-nominated mini-series of all three books, which has been broadcast worldwide.

For nearly 25 years Barbara Taylor Bradford has been one of the world's bestselling women's authors, having written 19 books - all worldwide bestsellers. To date she has sold an astounding 74 million copies of her novels in 39 languages for more than 90 countries.

Barbara's 19^th novel Emma's Secret was released on July 7^th by Harper-Collins in the UK, on currently ranks # 3 on the London Times bestseller list. It is the fourth in the continuing literary series that began with A Woman of Substance. For more information on Barbara Taylor Bradford, please visit her official website at www.Barbarataylorbradford.com.

CONTACT: Lonnie Ostrow (212) 308-7390