Legal News

Another Boy Who Lived? You Say Hari, We Say Harry

By Dan Slater

As some of you may remember, for a week in April the Law Blog put all our eggs in one basket as we covered the Harry Potter fair use trial, in which J.K Rowling and Warner Bros. sued RDR Books, the publisher of the H.P. Lexicon, for copyright infringement. (See all LB coverage of the case here.) Then the trial ended and we were called back to the office to sit and wait for an opinion from the SDNY’s Robert Patterson.

Four months later, we continue to wait for a ruling. (Hint, hint, Judge Patterson.) In the meantime, we bring you Harry Potter litigation news from . . . Mumbai. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Warner, a division of Time Warner, has filed a lawsuit against Mumbai-based producer and distributor Mirchi Movies. The suit is related to the title of its upcoming film “Hari Puttar — A Comedy of Terrors.” “Hari Puttar” reportedly centers on a 10-year-old Indian boy whose family moves to England. The film is slated for a Sept. 12 release.

According to the Reporter, the Hari Puttar name became a comic gag in India when the first “Harry Potter” film was released. Hari is a popular Indian name, and “puttar” means “son” in the Punjabi language.

The case was reportedly heard today in the Bombay High Court.

“Since the case is sub-judice, we can’t comment as of now,” Mirchi Movies CEO Munish Purii told the Reporter. “However, we registered the ‘Hari Puttar’ title in 2005, and it’s unfortunate that Warner has chosen to file a case so close to our film’s release. In my opinion, I don’t think our title has any similarity or links with ‘Harry Potter.’ “

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 25, 2008 (boomark / email).