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JK Rowling and WB sue Indian community
CBC News, based in Canada, is reporting that an Indian community is being sued over their replica of the Hogwarts castle. Made out of canvas and papier mβchι, the castle was going to be used in an upcoming festival. However, a representative for the community groups claims they had no idea they needed to seek permission. From CBC:The group had also hired artists to create a replica of the Hogwarts Express, the train that Harry Potter and his young wizard friends take to the school, as well as life-sized models of the main figures in the best-selling series of books.
The group has spent about $30,000 for its replica, called a pandal.
"It's just a theme.… We have also modelled the Titanic and no-one sued us," said another organizer, Robin Mukherjee.
A lawyer will try to fight the lawsuit on Friday. For the full story, click here.
Posted by Andrew on Oct 11th |
467 Comments
Visitor Comments
actually alotta ppl have gotten banned and i noe some of em!!!! so dont talka bout things u dont noe.... ginny that would be nice, just leave and dont gie us attention.... will we miss that.... ummm no. i really hate talking withu two u noe?
ohhh geez, nevermind, this seems pretty intense. anyone else wanna tlk about someting else ?
I did not have account when I see these things. thank you ginny but I am sticking with it...sooner or later I will accomplish
finally finished the fan fic..now im forreally done. 55q: lemme know when you have conquered that barbaric tribe of mold. hope theres new updates tomorrow that arent stupid...
huh? how is that suppposed to make sense???????? wuts up kayla?
ugh nothin, doin some stupid homework, how about i have to write a summary for every chapter i read in this book and it due tomorrow. i have like 6 summarys to write. not fun. anways, whts up with you?
who are you directing with youre post sirius lee? ginny I already have infiltrated cheesecakes, under another name. I will use it.
I aggre with every1 else theres more to this story than whats being told!!
My my, quite a discussion here! Hey Kayla! That sounds excruciating!!
55q are u the dudley kid? dobby? _severussnape_? aberforth? alas... i think i noe who u are...... and that was directed to u btw..... nm kayla just tired.... aww u had skool today? daannnng!
well not seen what doesnt make sense. sorry. let me hear youre prediction.
infiltration....i swear to god i was given that suggestion by a couple friends and was going to go through with it today. lol. wow. i have a secret alliance with one of them so ...it didnt seem necessary.
i kno man. school its getting annoying and im only like two month in. thank god november is almost here. i dont have one full week of school in november. i love it, lol. and heyy acid :] and it is excruciating, nice word. lol i should prolly learn to broaden my vocabulary. haha
Lol thanks! Harry Potter has made me word-strong! *Muscles* I can't wait for Halloween!!! I always look forward to the next fun day in our schedule here. The one after that is two days off in November after Midterms. :/
wow, this is terrible...ari just ignore the trolls. AGAIN im just dropping in..ill have time to talk again this sunday...bye guys
Wow. This is the first time JKR is suing someone for something that is completely stupid.
well..."ari" is not responding...goodbye cheesecake men it is 4:30 I have to go any of time
see ya grinds!!!! :D
I gotta go peeps, Friday tomorrow!!!! *Dances* Good luck with the haters, Ari! Drop me an owl if you need support... even though I won't be here... *Scratches head* Okay well.. bye then!
ha, your welcome. and yes i love halloween too. how about my busniess academy class is having like a halloweeen party for only those in business, so i get outta 3 and 4. english and math. the best two subjscts to get out of. lol.
well sionce everyone is gone..... and 55q "ari" is still here....*waves* :D cya acid!!!
oh hey ur still here!! :D
bye acid. actually i should prolly hit the sack too. TGIF tomorrow. and guess wht. no volleyball tournament. it was cancel! yah! lol well ttyl ari!
If the Indian community was making money off the use of the castle and replica of Hogwarts Express, I could see Jo and her lawyer-demons going after them. However, I sincerely hope she doesn't get too wrapped up in her copyrights that she comes after people for enjoying her intellectual material. That might be a bit much for some of us.
hey guys!
omgosh that is completley ridiculous... hmm should i respect JK Rowling less for this.. is she just doing this so she somehow get more profit off of the #1 most money making thing the world has ever know:Harry Potter i mean, shizz (excuse my french) shes a billionaire and yet she wont let this small indian community get away with embracing harry potter and actually making a replica of HOWARTS CASTLE!i mean, its totally a wow factor that they are suing this poor little community over bull shizz such as this now i know not to draw any harry potter stuff in class and/or make a replica of how my future harry potter vans will look
come on jo, this is just to far. you already have the most succesful book and movie series under your belt. you gave the entire world something to love and enjoy, and that is just what the festival people are doing. please don't take away from the enjoyment they are trying to spread to other people by making a hogwarts castle. i'm dressing up as luna lovegood for halloween, am i going to get sued if i win a costume contest or something? maybe it really isnt jo doing it, but WB started it and she has to go along because of some weird contract or something, i really hope jo didn't want to do this.
hi anyone still here? if not ill just go to bed g'night!
um wow. just for that, im going to make a harrypotter castle an d see if someone tries to sue me. come on people! don't you have better things to do?
ok but didnt Florida do that same thangggg??? im so confused just because its India curses.
THEY SHOULD CHILL OUT really like, it's for fun.. They are taking all the fun out of this festival for what? More money for their empire? It's not like they were going around printing the books. I love the harry potter empire but this is ridiculous.
Are they going to sue schools for having Harry Potter themed dances and parties? One year my class decorated my door for the holidays with a Southpark styled version of Hogwarts and the Trio. Boy, I could have been sued by Comedy Central, the creaters of Southpark, Warner Bros and JKR! If they were doing this for profit, I see grounds for suit, but for a religious celebration? I mean ... really!!!
i think thats completely unessary i mena cmon! its not like they were going to claim it was authentic or anything they were doing no harm to anyone or anything!
There must be more back story to this! Outrageous calls by the WB must be involved because Jo would never do such a thing. I respect her in every possible way! The WB needs to back off! What is the world coming to???
ugh people always want more money these days its like omg chill out!!! fer realizzle. grrrrr :/
Wow, I like JKR but it seems all her money is starting to get to her. This is just stupid. The group which is making this display is doing it for a religious festival and they will not profitt from it. Like other people have said, there is no difference from this and fans who make their own Harry Potter halloween costumes, write fan fiction, or create art work inspired by the characters and setting. Furthermore, she's suing for $50,000. These are people in India, which is still a developing nation. This is money they probably don't have, and money she doesn't need. Hopefully JKR comes to her senses and drops this suit.
Wow JK is getting greedy! India is a poor country: over 70% of its population is below the poverty line. JK has millions of dollars. I think she could show some consideration to those who are not so blessed. She should be honored, they are showing her great respect... religion is the foundation of Indian life. I am still a fan of the books... but I'm certainly no longer a fan of hers.
I'm a fan of J.K. Rowling and all, but this is plain wrong. People all over the world do things like this, but nobody objects. What they're doing in Kolkata just shows that they appreciate Harry Potter and the world that J.K. Rowling has created. Is she doing this just because they're Indian? I've read some other newspaper articles - the kids in the area don't even know what copyrights are; they just adore Harry Potter and are pretty much devastated by the fact that Jo is apposing to what they made. She should realize that its not a mark of people trying to infringe copyrights, but a mark of people who are inspired by her writing. Wake up, Jo.
oh wow! Harry Potter is so darn popular in India...it's a big disappointment for them... i can almost visualise the look on the kids' faces when they hear that they can't have the hogwarts pandal(replica) after all. I hope that Jo,WB suing them is a rumor after all... i simply can't believe they're suing for canvas and papier mache...for crying out loud!
Ok, well, that's a little extreme. I wonder if there's more to this story....
....ok, this is just ridiculous....I'm obsessed with HP and all, but come on....seriously, I expected JKR to have more sense than this (who knows, maybe it's just a rumor).....this is literally the biggest religious festival in India....forget religious, it's THE biggest festival in India....and it's not like they're making any money off of it; it's simply for enjoyment, AND she should be happy they're honoring HP like this. Suing this is like suing fanfiction......just watch fanfiction.net get a court summons in the next few days.......seriously though, it's not even like she needs the money or anything, and it's a temporary castle that will stay there for like a month at most and will make so many people SO HAPPY and......yeah.......hey, anyone here think we should do "Gandhigiri" to make her stop this crazy suing?
This is really disappointing... And I know some people want to see the side of WB (and everyone else involved against the community), but I think that if WB had a legit reason they would have straight up said something. Good going... I think Rutu gives a good parallel, the whole fanfic thing should be attacked as well then...
okay, totally not cool. It's just a 4-day festival with non-profit one. I guess anyone can do that!! If they are trying to make money on it the they can sue them but duh! Mickey Mouse is almost present in every festivities and Disney never sues anybody!!!!! now, why a paper mache one???? urgghh
A storie like this really hurts my heart. A community festival?? really? i guess the happy children mean nothing. this modest cummunity puts their hearts and money into this festival for their god ...yup i guess that means nothing to jk or WB.. what the diffrents between this and they sand art competitions when they make hogwarts out of sand..cuz they do make money off of that. i really want to see them getting sued.
hey..well i am an indian and hav a fair idea bt wat dis festival and pandal is all about..it is actually just a paper mache castle as a theme for " durga puja" ..i think it was a fantastic idea..and not one penny is being made out of it.. im a big jkr fan bt she has definetely dissapointed me dis tym..i mean shes freakin rich and suing d organizers for sumthng whch is actually a tribute to hp is jst pathetically cheap!!!
I'm originally from Kolkata and have seen thousands of replicas which make these 'pandals' as the temporary house for the idols are called. No money is charged to the visitors, and anyone, from the richest businessman to the poorest beggar gets free meals from the organisers. It's a grand carnival, and the sponsorships and advertisement revenue barely cover the cost of the event. Every day hundreds of thousands of visitors visit each pandal - there are thousands across the city - and the principle of the event is that everyone is free to come. I'm afraid that JKR has made a fool of herself. Here is an example of free publicity for her - will millions of people who would have seen the Hogwarts replica - and got to know of her books - even though many of them don't know English and probably don't read her books (even in translation). It's so depressing - with this sordid case, JKR makes herself out to be a money grabbing fool - a modern grinch who spoilt the festivities. I just hope she has the sense to withdraw from the case before it's too late to lose thousands and thousands of her fans.
:S ...
Hey Friends... I am an Indian...stay in Kolkata. I have a question for JKR, if she really is involved in this, because for me at least, its hard enough to believe something this simple has caught WB and her attention... Durga Puja is one of the most religious and happy festivals for Indians, specially, us Bengali's....and something else must be made clear, as I read all the other comments posted here...a pandal is where the Goddess Durga idol is placed for worshipâ¦we all visit different pandals , thatâs pandal hoppingâ¦they are designed based on very unusual and innovative themesâ¦even Titanic was made after its huge success that yearâ¦.its just another festival like Christmas⦠And what must be made clear is that absolutely NO MONEY is taken from people who go and visit pandalsâ¦for this reason, NO MONETARY GAINS are involved for the community who are conducting this particular theme puja [ceremony]â¦except maybe if they achieve the First Prize among hundreds of other excellent pandals that are being made⦠So, for evident reasonsâ¦I fail to understand or even comprehend the basis for such a step takenâ¦arenât there a lot more important things in the World to be taken care of and helped get better, by the time wasted on this absurd âzilchââ¦. By doing this though, not only is the community losing a lot of money- that too, hard earned for only these 3 days of a yearâ¦JKR and WB are robbing happiness precise from 3 year old children to 60 year olds and beyondâ¦who laughed and cried with Jkr through Harry Potter⦠I am one of the biggest Jkr and H.P fansâ¦but I feel sorry that these insignificant issues are more important to you than the fact that a quarter of your die-hard fans come from India⦠Friends, would Harry have supported this?? Wouldnât Ron have said, âMENTALâ??.... JKR we love youâ¦please donât be Fudgeâ¦. Peace, Tannik a Kolkata
omg my daughter just had a harry potter themed birthday party and her cake looked like the monster book of monsters. I hope they dont sue me too!! I certainly hope there is something else to this because as it is this is just plain stupid..
morning peoples!!!
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