Winnipeg group loses Harry Potter court battle
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Written by maljonic
Monday, 03 July 2006 |
WINNIPEG -- A Manitoba-based folk group called The Wyrd Sisters is continuing its legal battle against the makers of the latest Harry Potter movie, despite suffering another setback in court.
The group lost a bid last November to block distribution of the Warner Brothers film Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire across Canada, alleging the movie depicted a band with the same name.
Last week, the group was ordered by an Ontario Superior Court judge to pay Warner Brothers' legal costs -- totalling $140,000.
"We will be appealing the disposition of costs,'' the group's lawyer, Kimberly Townley-Smith, said Monday.
Warner Brothers welcomed the ruling, but said it still faces a $40-million lawsuit from The Wyrd Sisters.
"We're obviously very pleased by the court's latest ruling and we're extremely hopeful that we will continue to prevail in this case,'' company spokesman Scott Rowe said from Los Angeles.
The dispute dates to 2004, when Warner Brothers started planning to shoot the movie which, like the book on which it is based, would include a musical performance by a group called The Weird Sisters.
Some of the bigger names in British rock were signed to play members of the group -- Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of Radiohead and Jarvis Cocker of Pulp -- and Warner Brothers offered the Winnipeg-based Wyrd Sisters $5,000 for the right to use their name.
The folk group refused, and later launched the lawsuit and sought an injunction to block the film, saying they were the proper owners of the name.
"It wasn't about getting money, it was about protecting the trademark,'' Townley-Smith said.
"You can't share a trademark with Harry Potter and expect to maintain your own integrity ... and your own identity.''
Warner Brothers removed any mention of the band's name from the movie, yet Townley-Smith persisted.
Justice Colin Campbell rejected the injunction request, saying Warner Brothers had taken every reasonable step to avoid any confusion.
Campbell also said the publicity around the movie would benefit, not harm, the Winnipeg group.
The Wyrd Sisters insist they have been hurt. People who have read the Goblet of Fire book know the movie band's name, said Townley-Smith.
There was also a lot of publicity before the lawsuit was filed -- everything from newspaper interviews to Internet listings for the movie's soundtrack CD -- which referred to the movie band as The Weird Sisters.
But there have been plenty of Radiohead, Pulp and Harry Potter fans who accuse the little-known Winnipeg group of seeking a quick cash grab.
Several postings on fan websites point out that the phrase "weird sisters'' dates back to the three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth.
There was also a 1988 Macbeth-themed book by British author Terry Pratchett called Wyrd Sisters.
It's not clear when a court hearing will be held on the lawsuit. Townley-Smith admits there have been several confrontations with the judge.
"There was an issue of Mr. Justice Campbell having an off-the-record conversation with counsel for Warner Brothers and we've been trying to convince him that means he should be excluding himself from any further activity (in this case),'' she said.
Despite the courtroom losses, Townley-Smith said the Winnipeg Wyrd Sisters have won something important.
The legal action ensured that the band in the movie would not be named, and also ensures that her clients are the only ones that can perform as The Wyrd Sisters, she said.
Canadian Press, with minor correction by Terry Pratchett Unseen Message Board.
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