Here's an interesting case I hadn't heard about: Supposedly the merchandisers for Wizarding World of Harry Potter have "stolen" a font used to print words on clothing. Yes, a font, as in letters with shapes. Only the owners of the font have to prove that the creators used the exact same software to create the font, because copying a font isn't ( Read more... )

I haven't done one of these in a while...
Thanks to custos_noctis for the first link:

The Willy the Wizard Trial marches on. Read my past posts on the subject  HERE.
The Bookseller: Willy Estate Ordered to pay Million Dollar Court Cost Before Trial
The High Court has ordered Paul Allen, the trustee of the estate of the late Willy the Wizard author Adrian Jacobs ( Read more... )

Thanks for the tip from custos_noctis

Update on the strange plagiarism case of the Adrian Jacobs Estate Lawsuit against J. K. Rowling.From Yahoo News/Reuters

A U.S. judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit accusing "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling with copying the work of another author when writing "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."

Scholastic Corp, the U.S ( Read more... )

This is the case that just won't go away for some reason, and now has spread from the UK to the U.S.A. federal court in New York City. It seems to have no merit as a copyright case but for some reason now even more attorneys must be involved.

The Case is Paul Gregory Allen v. Scholastic Inc., 10-5335, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New ( Read more... )

From the Techdirt "Good Luck" Department:
Official Twilight T-Shirt Contest Won't Let You Use Anything from Twilight ~ That's right ~ no logo, no apple, no fangs, no coffins, no blood, no bats, and not one picture of any actor associated with the movies.

Hilarious Legal Story from Think Geek who received their Best Cease and Desist Order Ever!
( Read more... )

exhpfan let me know that the Willy the Wizard Case is coming back around again. This case was originally filed last June and brought against Bloomsbury Books, but the plaintiff has now added JKR as a defendent due to "new information," whatever that means. This article says they expect the whole thing to be dismissed, but it should be interesting.

Harry ( Read more... )

First a definition for "Amicus Brief" from WiseGeek:

The tradition of accepting amicus briefs comes from a larger concept, the amicus curiae, or “friend of the court.” A friend of the court may be interested in a case for various reasons, although he or she is not directly involved. For example, a court might be preparing to try a case related to ( Read more... )

You may have seen the videos floating around last week called "Harry Potter the Musical."
I saw them HERE. The two musical videos have been taken down now, but you can see the guy who played Harry in a short parody (people are laughing!)called Goin' Back as in "going back to Hogwarts. The soundtrack isn't that great, but it's pretty good. Look fast ( Read more... )

I found a website that seems to be connected to the disputed book from the lawsuit between the estate of the Jacobs family and Bloomsbury Books, from my last post.

Willy the Wizard by Adrian Jacobs 1987

The attorneys who brought the lawsuit may have put the website up themselves, I don't know. If you look around there you'll see that it's more like ( Read more... )

This is one for the scrapbook!

Or perhaps the "What goes around comes around X-Files."

The estate of a deceased writer named Adrian Jacobs is claiming that Bloomsbury Publishing and J. K. Rowling stole the plot of his book The Adventures of Willy the Wizard -- No 1 Livid Land.

According to Reuters a statement from Bloomsbury said:

The allegations ( Read more... )