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FEBRUARY 5, 2005 at 7:21 PM
Posted by GERI
Source: Sunday Herald
Representatives of JK Rowling and Warner Bros. are investigating possible copyright infringement centering around images HPANA posted last week from an issue of the U.S. Army's official Preventive Maintenance Monthly. The cartoon magazine, distributed to 80,000 army personnel, featured a multi-page parody of "Harry Potter" in the publication's May 2004 issue.
A spokesman for Rowling has confirmed
that they were looking into the matter and that the U.S. Army never approached them or Warner Bros. prior to its release.
According to Ken Crunk, based at Redstone arsenal in Alabama:
"The drawings were done by a contracted artist for us. They do not look like any of the characters from Harry Potter. We are very careful when we do these things not to copy images because that would be illegal. We use them to encourage soldiers to read the mag."
A U.S. Army spokesman added:
"Each issue of the magazine is reviewed by the aviation and missile command legal office. After reviewing this particular issue the legal office concluded that there was nothing done that was impermissible and that the illustrations were clearly in the scope of parody and that, therefore, there was no need to seek permission from JK Rowling."
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Student
Points: 218
Dementor fan club says:
Sean is mine is right, she is only doing this cuase she doesnt like the fact that her country is involved in this conflict. there have been tons of potter parodies. I have a block on my computer of innocent sites that lead to harry potter porn catoons that my little cousins might see. anyone want to take a guess at y she hasnt gone after them, but is going after the U.S. Army???
Posted Feb 8, 2005 at 7:33 PM EST
Witch
Points: 741
Auror Tonks says:
They got away with it this time. Oh well. It may have been funny... i never read it myself.
Posted Feb 8, 2005 at 9:02 PM EST
Student
Points: 251
Miss Riddle says:
They better not copy off of J.K. Rowling's work. If they do, someone's going to pay. Stupid people, don't know what's illegal. :shakes head:
Posted Feb 8, 2005 at 9:51 PM EST
Student
Points: 279
beatrizM says:
Hahahahaha You´ve got to be kiding me! thats really messed up!
Posted Feb 8, 2005 at 10:04 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2315
Ovlac says:
I think it is a big mistake of the Army. They only want to get some publicity and use the fame of HP to obtain it.
I don´t like weapons, and wars, so the army...
Posted Feb 9, 2005 at 7:00 AM EST
Chief Brain Washer
Points: 2875
Chogiiiirl says:
I thought the comics were pretty funny, but I hate to see anyone's work taken and not given credit. It doesn't sound to me like they asked for permission before doing the spoof. That would have been much smarter. I hope it all works out, and no one has too much trouble over the incident.
Posted Feb 9, 2005 at 11:24 AM EST
Student
Points: 218
Dementor fan club says:
Oclav, what are you talking about?!?!?! "they only want to get some publicity" the magaizine the pics are in is for millitary personell. what kind of publicity is she getting from a magazine distributed to a very small and select group of the world. Myself and Celedora got into an argument over this thread, but atleast she had a valid point on her behalf to make. The United States Army, and the United States Millitary in General has no need or desire to be linked to a series such as this. take the strip for what it was. A training manual in the form of a comic to show some light humor for the task it depicted.
Posted Feb 9, 2005 at 11:57 AM EST
Witch
Points: 645
Stage Violence says:
In my opinion, JKR is only looking to cause problems because of her unfavorable opinion of the American Army in the Middle East. I have never read anything about her potentially prosecuting Saturday Night Live or MadTV for parodying her work. I hope this goes no further. It could be a quick way for JKR to lose readers in the Midwest.
Posted Feb 9, 2005 at 1:51 PM EST
Student
Points: 218
Dementor fan club says:
Ur right Stage Violence, she's only doing this cause of her vies of the war... and there are much worse depictions of the harry potter and crew on the net. there are cartoons that are pornograpgic and she has never made a move on them to get them banned, or to pay some royalties.
Posted Feb 9, 2005 at 2:16 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 42
ihearthp123 says:
Well this is certainly messed up. Why would the army even think about coping? Thats like Middle School stuff. How old are we? I read their complete book thing or whatever it is and it sounds like a dmemented version of hp to me. I can't wait to find out what happens here.
Posted Feb 9, 2005 at 3:59 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2133
orlandofan says:
Ok now that is funny,i didnt think the spoof was funny but this is.
Posted Feb 9, 2005 at 4:45 PM EST
Witch
Points: 728
Hermione Double says:
Well, that is interesting and unexpected.
Such drama surrounds these sorts of things.
Posted Feb 9, 2005 at 6:03 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2563
School Governor says:
the army guys should own up, this is definate parody of Harry Potter. They shouldn't try to hide behind legal jargons.
Posted Feb 10, 2005 at 8:33 AM EST
Magical Experimentalist
Points: 6699
Preet says:
Haaaahaaaa!!! That is sooo funny. I can hrdly believe it.
Posted Feb 10, 2005 at 10:32 AM EST
Student
Points: 235
Celedora says:
omni: I went to that site and the only thing it said was what you put in your post. Is there someplace that you know of where I can hear the person's claim? I'm just curious.
Posted Feb 10, 2005 at 1:05 PM EST
Points: 2
Trilotat says:
The Army actually parodies many popular movies/TV shows in this publication. I recall the X-File version with a smile. Admittedly, this PM Magazine may be a rare occasion for the Army to exhibit such humor. It isn't really a funny organization, if you think about it.
Trilotat
Army guy and HP Fan
Posted Feb 10, 2005 at 5:41 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 335
tre0682 says:
I don't think they should be prosecuted. Its all in good fun and the drawings didn't look like the H.P. characters.
Posted Feb 10, 2005 at 6:47 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 31
ilovefredandgeorge says:
"The drawings were done by a contracted artist for us. They do not look like any of the characters from Harry Potter. We are very careful when we do these things not to copy images because that would be illegal. We use them to encourage soldiers to read the mag."-Ken Crunk
"Each issue of the magazine is reviewed by the aviation and missile command legal office. After reviewing this particular issue the legal office concluded that there was nothing done that was impermissible and that the illustrations were clearly in the scope of parody and that, therefore, there was no need to seek permission from JK Rowling."-A U.S. Army spokesman
i find all of this rather ammusing.... its funny if u think about it! I mean they dont even look alike.
Posted Feb 10, 2005 at 10:23 PM EST
Points: 141
Spuzum says:
Silly JK Rowling, trying to piddle the US Army out of what money they have by sueing them. This whole story is a shammy sham sham in my opinion
Posted Feb 11, 2005 at 1:02 AM EST
Student
Points: 290
Tronin says:
I thought you did not have to get permission for parodies. Or else the editorial cartoonists and comics and not to mention Saturday Night live would never get anywhere.
Posted Feb 11, 2005 at 5:21 AM EST
Dan Radcliffe's Muse
Points: 4400
Ramsay's Kitchen Maid says:
I doubt JKR is trying to money out of the Army---what is clear is that she is seeking to protect/defend her intellectual property.
I don't see what harm would come to the Army if it issued an apology for (at the very least) not seeking her permission to use the material. (By apologizing the Army would not be admiting to anything except to a difference in opinion over what was "fair use" of copyrighted material)
Even if the Army lawyers thought the mag content was free of legal problems--asking JKR & WB for permission could have possibly averted this conflict in the first place.
If JKR refused, the Army still could have published the mag as a parody AND have been able to say that they tried to negotiate with JKR & WB beforehand.
Posted Feb 11, 2005 at 10:12 AM EST
Student
Points: 218
Dementor fan club says:
If she were trying to "protect/defend her intelectual property" as you putt it. Why then has she never gone after SNL, or Mad TV... better yey, Y has she not attempted this course of action with all the sites publishing Harry Potter Porn Comic stips?? Are you saying that she has no problem with people making Porno comics about her characters?
She is doing this because of her views of the U.S. Millitary action in the Middle east.
Posted Feb 11, 2005 at 2:51 PM EST
Wizard
Points: 580
Azael says:
I can´t believe that the american army do that, even if the drawings don´t suck, that comic must be ilegal and of course it copyright the real harry potter concept
Posted Feb 11, 2005 at 3:44 PM EST
Dan Radcliffe's Muse
Points: 4400
Ramsay's Kitchen Maid says:
Do you know for a fact that she hasn't gone after porn sites? Or what SNL's policies are with regard to copyrighted works?
Personally, I doubt she would publicize her actions against porn sites since the news would only serve to generate more traffic on the websites she's going after.
As for SNL, parody vs. fair use is a complicated area of law--clear cut answers on "whether a parady qualifies as a fair use" are few and far between. Professional paradists (like actors on SNL and performers like Weird Al) usually seek permission from the copyright owner before publishing/broadcasting to avoid litigation.
But all this aside, why not address my question which was "what harm would come to the Army if it issued an apology for (at the very least) not seeking her permission to use the material?"
The only reason Harry Potter exists as a now world-famous character (and therefore subject to parody) is because of JKR & WB....
Posted Feb 11, 2005 at 3:56 PM EST
Dan Radcliffe's Muse
Points: 4400
Ramsay's Kitchen Maid says:
My previous post was in response to Dementor-fan-club's post...
Sorry...
Posted Feb 11, 2005 at 4:00 PM EST
Auror
Points: 4040
Dan's no.1 fan 4ever says:
Like they didn't copy off Harry Potter! Idiots. I can't believe there are people that sad in this world.
Posted Feb 11, 2005 at 4:36 PM EST
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