Harry Potter the Musical Meets the Copyright Chorus Line

[rattlesnakeroot]

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

Comments

[condwiramurs]

Thanks for posting this. This sort of stuff really pisses me off sometimes - isn't PARODY a category specifically protected as fair use under US law!? (I'm assuming this is in the US?) Grr.

[rattlesnakeroot]

It's definitely in the U.S. - I wish I had downloaded the videos before this happened because I never saw them either. :(

A "musical comedy" is not the same thing as the Harry Potter books or movies. I think they are going for trademark infringement with the words again, which is still shady.

This reminds me of Al Franken being sued by Fox News because he put their pictures and motto on his bookbe proven. If it can that something doesn't replace the original work then it is a parody.

From CNNAug. 22, 2003

[inkwolf_at_last]

Aww...they should call it the Eat A Lawyer Save A Wizard Show. Theat Going Back video was great--I hope the the musical will be available again soon.

Thanks for posting the videos!

[rattlesnakeroot]

That Darren Criss can really sing! They ought to be hiring him to entertain at their theme park instead of suing him.

I have a feeling that's what this is a bout - some musical they have planned for the HP theme park in Florida that probably won't be half as good as this.

[featherxquill]

Yeah, um. WTF. I'm not seeing the difference between HP the Musical and the Potter Puppet Pals, or Wizard Rock.

The only possible explanation is that they might be wanting to make one an official one one day (I think I read that somewhere ages ago, though I could be wrong) or they just think that calling it 'Harry Potter the Musical' might make people think it's official.

Either way, WTF, JKR and her Lawyers of Doom.

I wish I'd watched the Musical before it got taken down. I'd been planning on it, and now... crap.

Maybe they can call it 'The Boy Who Sang'? *has no idea*

[rattlesnakeroot]

You should send them that suggestion! :)

Good point about Potter Puppet Pals, which is also a musical parody but has even won the YouTube award but to my knowledge has never been sued.

On Leaky Cauldron the other day, they mentioned receiving a DVD of the songs. That may have sent up a warning flare to the attorneys.
Leaky News Story

[aredwitch]

LOL I don't know where you find this stuff, Rattlesnakeroot! Those poor guys! The fact that they were warned means one thing - whoever owns copyright to spin offs is considering a musical version at some point down the road and does not want any confusion. Did anyone like LotR The Musical? Gak!! I hope they don't do it cause you can't take seven books and whittle the story down to about 2 hours in a musical form. Can you imagine someone seriously trying to turn the Battle of Hogwarts into a dance routine!?

[rattlesnakeroot]

"Seriously" is the right word - these guys were not being serious at all. I think that is what makes certain authors angry. But I've been saying for a year now that parody is the realm of the totally pissed off, so when these guys revise their musical it will probably be much more scathing and less reverent than it would have been before they were threatened.

I just love the fact that they bleeped out the canon words. *LOL* How many times have we discussed that very thing here on this journal?

[lunas_ceiling]

I think I might vomit, I saw a clip of this on facebook last week and didn't even think anything of it. I should have known better. Ileen has a point though if someone had planned a musical (never underestimate the capacity to milk the gravy train) that could be the issue. Still, totally disgusting.

[rattlesnakeroot]

There's a reason those guys have those High School Musical posters behind them - because that's what this is like. It's like Andy Rooney and Judy Garland having a show in the barn.

When a high school does a musical they have to pay a very minimal sum to the writer of the musical score - couple hundred dollars? And even then the writer can't interfere with the casting, props, and costumes. That's the creative part of theater. If someone wanted to turn a well-known play into a parody, they could do it and it would be perfectly legal because comedy is legal (see the quote from the Al Franken case up above).

Why can WB just make a policy about this so kids can be creative without getting lawyers involved? It borders on harrassment, if you ask me.

[saiphgrl]

One of my wizard rocker friends goes to school with these guys, so I've known about the performances for awhile. The creator actually emailed me the other day to ask about the unofficial agreement that wizard rockers have with WB and to ask for some advice.
It seems to CLEARLY fall under fair use. The only difference I can think of between this and wizard rock is the fact that rather than just music, this is video of a dramatic performance. Perhaps WB thinks that will confuse people? Regardless, I think it's nonsense, and I'm sorry that they're having issues.

[rattlesnakeroot]

Thanks for letting us know - I knew you might have the inside scoop.

They just seem like such nice guys! Just like the Wizard Rockers - they are obviously fans who were inspired by the books. And it's clearly just for fun or parody and not to replace the books or some future musical.

I guess they are going to try to draft some sort of contract and see if WB will accept it?

[saiphgrl]

That seemed to be the plan. I really hope it works out for them! They obviously put a lot of work into it, and they're getting nothing but some attention. What's the harm in that?

[rattlesnakeroot]

That guy Darren Criss has a really good voice - maybe someone from Broadway will see these videos. :) I like a happy ending.