So, I Can Take That as a "Yes," Mr. Pratchett?
So, Terry Pratchett was (rather unflatteringly) interviewed in the Times. [ETA April 20, 2007: The previous link is now dead. For all those interested in your wank history, here's a working one, supplied here by a helpful anonymouse: Sod the Booker, this is popular: Giles Hattersley meets Terry Pratchett.]

Here is a loose and free paraphrase of a portion of the interview:

Interviewer: "So, when did J. K. Rowling stop beating your wife start ripping off your work?"

Terry Pratchett: "You're crazy if you think I'm actually going to answer that."

Interviewer: "I'll take that as a yes." (<--Actual real quote)

Potter fans: "OMG Pratchett dissed JKR! He's so jealous!"

Me: *Headdesk*

The Leaky Cauldron report on the article, with links to other Pratchett interviews/letters, is here. [ETA May 14, 2009: Although the original post remains, the old comments page, with all its glorious wank, appears to be gone. If anyone knows a workaround URL to get to old Leaky comments, let me know.]

Oh, yeah. The wank report from the last time this happened is here.

ETA: Mightily Oates posts this response from Pratchett:

A fan asked him about the latest nonsense on alt.fan.pratchett today, and asked how he reacted. Responding he said:

…with annoyance. And that was one of the more subtle leading questions I've had in the past month or so.

Ye gods, we've all been though this before. In a genre, it all comes out of the same big pot, yadda, yadda, and that's true. As a writer you can dip it and pull out 'Magic school' or 'dragon riders' or whatever, and you understand that someone else might do exactly the same thing and that's okay provided everyone understands that they should put their own skin on the idea. I have never accused JKR of plagiarism, although I get the impression that some of her fans think I do so all the time.

Why clam up in that interview? Because I'd said my piece. It's the only way to be sure. A wrong phrasing, the wrong tone of voice and there's trouble. Silence, of course, can be misinterpreted, but at least it's silence.

I've been getting stuff like this:

Did you get the name Hogswatch from Hogwarts?
No, I made it up in The Colour of Magic, out of Hogmanay and Watch night.
When was that?
1983.
Ah, so you're saying she stole it from you?
Silence or changing the subject are the only safe ways out, and not that safe, at that.

--
Terry Pratchett

(paragraphing supplied by me)

ETA2: Because it's impossible to discuss Pratchett without someone wanting to try his books, we now have a thread of Pratchett recs. In fact, have two.