Sunday, February 06, 2005

More Copyright problems??
JK ROWLING'S lawyers are gunning for the US Army after they ripped off her famous boy wizard Harry Potter.
A fictional character called Topper with a striking resemblance to Harry is being used in a military training manual.
Topper is featured in an official nine page full-colour comic called Preventive Maintenance Monthly.
The cartoon magazine instructs soldiers on how to take care of their equipment.
The edition features a spell at Mogmarts School of Magical Preventive Maintenance in England - and looks a lot like Harry's Hogwarts.
In the magazine, Army officials pay a visit to Mogmarts in their camouflaged Humvee to learn a lesson from Professor Rumbledoore and his staff.
At the turreted castle's gates they are greeted by a bearded wizard, the spitting image of Rowling's Professor Dumbledore, with the words: 'I invited Master Sergeant Half-Mast to tour Mogmart's to see how we teach preventive maintenance.'
Last night, Edinburgh author JK Rowling's agent confirmed they were investigating a suspected breach of copyright.
Neil Blair of the Christopher Little Literary Agency said: 'I have shared this information with Warner Bros. who are also looking into the issue as they control certain pertinent rights too.
'Both JK Rowling and Warner Bros.
Entertainment value and protect their intellectual property rights.'
The action followed a warning note on Rowling's website about an e-book scam.
She advised: 'The only genuine copies of Harry Potter remain the authorised traditional book or audio tapes/cassettes/ CDs distributed through my publishers.' She and Warner Brothers, who have a multi-billion pounds investment in the series, have previously quashed rip-off attempts by authors in several countries, including Russia.
Other similarities in the Army comic include a potions class taken by Professor Snappy - Snape in the books.
It also features an incompetent red-haired boy, just like Ron Weasley.
And the final member of the trio is know-it-all girl Miss Ranger - doubling for Hermione Granger.
No one was available from the US Embassy to comment.
The Preventive Maintenance Monthly provides information for all soldiers assigned to combat and support units and all troops with unit maintenance and supply duties.

*To view the pages, HPANA has them from an article they'd previously put up HERE.
**Of course, as I do not write to her publishing or WB, this is only from The Sunday Mail in the UK, and I do not know if this is true. Take it for what it's worth. ;)

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