The Leaky Cauldron - Legal

Counterfeit Half-Blood Prince DVDs Seized in England

Wed Jul 22 09:13:00 -0400 2009

Although not quite a week since the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in movie theaters, counterfeit copies of the film are already making the rounds. News today out of England brings word that a raid on a car boot sale in Stafford "resulted in the seizure of more than 10,000 counterfeit discs, including the new Harry Potter film, the Half Blood Prince. The paper continued:

"Offi...

Followup on Jamie Waylett Case: Sentenced to Community Service (Updated)

Tue Jul 21 07:43:00 -0400 2009

A followup today regarding the legal case involving actor Jamie Waylett (Crabbe), who earlier this month plead guilty to growing cannabis plants at a residence in London, England. Today, the AP reports that Jamie was sentenced to to 120 hours of community service. The report continues: Judge Timothy Workman said Tuesday that he accepted that the cultivation was on a small scale and for Waylett...

Followup: Jamie Waylett Admits to Cannabis Possession Charge

Thu Jul 16 08:36:00 -0400 2009

A followup today regarding the case involving actor Jamie Waylett (Vincent Crabbe) and his arrest involving possession of an illegal substance. Appearing at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, England, the Telegraph reports Jamie plead guilty to growing ten Cannabis plants at his mothers home in England. Readers will recall that Jamie (19) and a friend John Innis (20) were bo...

Suit Filed Against Bloomsbury Regarding "Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire;" Bloomsbury States Claim is "Without Merit"

Mon Jun 15 15:02:00 -0400 2009

Today the estate of late children's author Adrian Jacobs filed a suit against Bloomsbury Publishing citing copyright infringement involving Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling. In a press release, the estate claims that "JK Rowling copied substantial parts of the work of the late Adrian Jacobs, The Adventures of Willy the Wizard-No 1 Livid Land, and that Bloomsbury in selling t...

Life Sentence Given in Robert Knox Murder Case

Thu Mar 05 08:59:00 -0500 2009

Yesterday there was an update in the case involving Robert Knox, the young actor who appears as Marcus Belby in the upcoming Half-Blood Prince, who was tragically murdered last May. As reported earlier, a jury in England found Karl Bishop, 22 guilty of the murder of Robert Knox, and today Mr. Bishop was handed a life sentence in jail for his crimes. The BBC reports:

Bishop, who was found guilty

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Followup: Man Convicted in Murder of Potter Actor Rob Knox

Wed Mar 04 08:30:00 -0500 2009

Last May, we learned the tragic news that actor Rob Knox, a young actor who will be seen as Marcus Belby in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, had been murdered in London. Today, the BBC reports that a jury has convicted Karl Bishop, 22, and found him guilty of the stabbing of Rob Knox. The BBC states "Mr Knox was stabbed five times as he defended his brother Jamie from Bishop...

RDR Books Files Notice of Appeal

Tue Nov 11 16:08:00 -0500 2008

As we reported in September, Judge Robert Patterson ruled in favor of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers in the copyright case against RDR Books, publisher of the book version of the Harry Potter Lexicon website. RDR Books has now officially filed a notice of appeal. An actual appeal will follow.

Past Leaky coverage of the trial can be found here.

Court Refuses to Hear Appeal on J.K. Rowling Photo Privacy Case

Tue Oct 28 10:14:00 -0400 2008

A court in the UK has refused to hear an appeal filed by Big Pictures LTD in regards to a case involving a photo of the young child of author J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter author and her husband Dr. Neil Murray had won an appeal in May of the case they brought seeking to protect the privacy of their children, in specific photos of their young son that were published in a UK paper several years...

Followup: Indian Court Rules Against WB in "Hari Puttar" Case

Mon Sep 22 14:06:00 -0400 2008

A followup today regarding Warner Brothers and a legal case they had brought, seeking to stop the release of a film from India called “Hari Puttar.” The BBC is reporting the High Court in Delhi, India has rejected the suit filed by WB, saying “Warner Bros could have brought the case three years ago and said readers could easily distinguish Hari Puttar from Harry Potter. Mirchi Movies, the maker

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JKR/WB vs RDR Books Trial: An Appeal to be Filed

Mon Sep 15 12:19:00 -0400 2008

An update for you this morning on the ongoing trial between WB/JKR vs.RDR Books. The Detroit Free Press is reporting an appeal is expected to be filed this week in this matter. The paper reports:

Roger Rapoport, a Muskegon publisher, and Steve Vander Ark, a Grand Rapids area librarian and author, expect their attorneys this week to file a notice of appeal preserving the men’s right to continue

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JKR/WB vs RDR Books Trial: Statements Regarding Ruling

Mon Sep 08 19:47:00 -0400 2008

Since the opinion earlier today in which Judge Patterson ruled in favor of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers, the following statements have been issued.

From J.K. Rowling:

“I took no pleasure at all in bringing legal action and am delighted that this issue has been resolved favourably. I went to court to uphold the right of authors everywhere to protect their own original work. The court has up

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JKR/WB vs. RDR Books Trial: JKR Wins Copyright Case

Mon Sep 08 18:34:00 -0400 2008

News sources are reporting that the judge in the case of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers vs. RDR Books has issued a ruling. From WNBC NY:

“The small publisher was not contesting that the lexicon infringes upon Rowling’s copyright but argued that it was a fair use allowable by law for reference books. In his ruling, Patterson noted that reference materials are generally useful to the public but

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WB Files Suit Over "Hari Puttar" Film Title In India

Wed Aug 27 02:32:00 -0400 2008

The BBC is reporting that Warner Bros. has filed suit against a film company in India for infringing on intellectual property rights in titling an upcoming movie: “Hari Puttar – A Comedy Of Terrors.” A spokesperson confirmed that a lawsuit was filed against Mirchi Movies and is expected to be heard before the Bombay High Court. According to the article, WB felt the title was ‘too similar to t

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JKR/WB vs. RDR Books Trial: Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law (pt 2)

Sun May 11 02:51:00 -0400 2008

This post is part two of our post from earlier today, and includes our summary of the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law presented by JKR/WB in this PDF.

Please see the prior post for Editor’s Notes. In addition, please also note that the JKR/WB document is considerably longer that the RDR Books document. In an effort to bring the summary down to a manageable length, on several occasions t

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JKR/WB vs. RDR Books Trial: Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law (pt 1)

Sat May 10 12:30:00 -0400 2008

We now have available at Leaky the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law documents from both Plaintiffs JKR/WB and Defendant RDR Books. These documents offer each side’s analysis of the trial and opinion on how it should conclude. The documents are in PDF format and total 10MB/200 pages.

RDR Books’ Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (> 1 MB/55 pages)

JKR/WB’s Findings of Fact and Conclu

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