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FEBRUARY 25, 2007 at 10:33 PM
Posted by GERI
Source: The Times
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, has sued
the web site eBay for the sale of illegal electronic copies of her books in India.
According to Neil Blair, Rowling’s legal adviser at the Christopher Little Literary Agency:
Over the years eBay has appeared to be unwilling to control sellers on their site offering pirated or forged Harry Potter items for sale to innocent fans. We have asked eBay on numerous occasions to assist by taking preventative steps to avoid these sales - steps that we are aware they can introduce. As these requests were not heeded we had no choice but to seek judicial intervention.
J. K. Rowling has previously warned fans on her own website about the sale of fake signed books and other pirated Harry Potter e-books on eBay.
As recently as January JKR posted a warning on her site about illegal versions of the books and has stated on numerous occasions that her books are not available for download.
She has also warned fans about the number of fraudulently autographed and unauthorized items that have appeared for sale on eBay. We also reported back in February that no e-book version of Deathly Hallows would be published as this helps with the "growing incidents of piracy."
UPDATE: Today eBay India denied JK's claims that they have done anything wrong.
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Princess of Fantasy
Points: 2538
magiclover13 says:
Wow... illegal versions? Well, I can't blame her... wow... :D
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 10:35 PM EST
Witch
Points: 746
SheylaLove says:
Good for her! I'm glad she's taking a stand against them.
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 10:36 PM EST
Harry's Lost Brother
Points: 10073
American Harry Potter says:
She has every right to seek out people who are pirating her work. Of course, it's just the way the world works these days. It's hard to catch things like that. You do what you have to do.
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 10:37 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 2nd Class
Points: 1648
Scorpius Malfoy says:
I can't blame her either! Ebay is terrible!
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 10:37 PM EST
Witch
Points: 725
Dobby Is My Master says:
Good for her. Hopefully this will help prevent some of the trolling and spoilers when DH comes out.
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 10:39 PM EST
Keeper of Harry's Fate
Points: 9051
TheOneWhoMustBeNamed says:
Glad to see her taking some action. Ebay should do a better job policing its site. It falls back on poor excuses. A large number of fans get hurt, and authors as well.
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 10:43 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 3rd Class
Points: 1457
Lexii*Chiita says:
Oh wow...well she did the right thing:D for people who are sometimes stubborn and won't ttake no for an answer...go J.K:D
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 10:43 PM EST
Mrs. Draco Malfoy
Points: 27909
Arika Granger Malfoy says:
GO JKR!!!
Finally someone taking a stand against Ebay!
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 10:45 PM EST
Squib
Points: 160
caschp says:
Good for her because the money that theyre getting isnt really theirs, its J.K's cause she created Harry Potter
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 10:45 PM EST
Head Girl
Points: 421
Pochacca says:
Well that's good that she's sueing them. I sure would be mad if I bought something that wasn't authentic on eBay. But then again I don't really buy stuff off of eBay.
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 10:46 PM EST
Auror
Points: 3651
Saint Hedwig says:
eBay... how predictable. You can find pretty much anything on eBay nowadays.
~
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 11:12 PM EST
Auror
Points: 4081
RON's all up in heRmiONe says:
Good for her to sue ebay. Its crazy that people are selling illegal versions of her books, I hope she wins!! I always buy stuff from ebay, but I never buy autographs or stuff like that, no one knows if they're real or not, half the time they aren't, I only buy posters and mags.
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 11:13 PM EST
Head Girl
Points: 450
MS.PHOENIX says:
E-bay was warned,if they didn't listen to her the first time they deserve what their getting.I hope she wins.
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 11:16 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2913
Pema says:
Geez! I hope they stop that! It really hurts us fans. Thanks, Jo!
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 11:57 PM EST
Points: 4
Draco's Girl 14 says:
I agree with everyone who has posted about this. That's great that she is taking action, and showing everyone that she will not tolerate things such as this. It is a shame though that there are people out there who does things like this. E-bay is an interesting website... it makes me nervous to use it.
Posted Feb 25, 2007 at 11:58 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 1st Class
Points: 1945
Carrie Weasley says:
Ha, I hate eBay, so I'm glad they're finally getting what they deserve. I can't believe she didn't do this sooner. Haven't these illegal books been a problem for a while now? Well, hopefully it stops soon.
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 12:04 AM EST
Auror
Points: 2170
HogwartsWitch says:
Good for JK Rowling - this is absolutely something she should take a stand against.
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 12:07 AM EST
Prefect
Points: 340
hippychick21 says:
I'm glad she's taking a stand against people like e-bay that sell igglgal products.
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 12:14 AM EST
Prefect
Points: 340
hippychick21 says:
I'm glad she's taking a stand against people like e-bay that sell illegal products.
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 12:17 AM EST
Magical Sanitary Supplier
Points: 2518
5225 says:
Shame on those who sells and buys pirated copies. Not only this practice hurts Ms. Rowling as an author, but also this practice hurts us, the consumer.
Please, if one wants to purchase these unauthorized items, think and think again. Do not be swayed by the price or by its availabilty, but think about the quality of the item. Is it worthy?
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 12:40 AM EST
Weaselette
Points: 3227
WickedLoz says:
Typical eBay, really..
I'm glad JK did something about it.
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 12:43 AM EST
Points: 217
Theo Murpse says:
The US law is quite clear on this: if there is an infringing "pirated" book on eBay, she must contact eBay and eBay must take down that ONE AUCTION and no other. It is not eBay's job to make sure the things OTHER PEOPLE are selling are legit. It is Rowling's job.
From the perspective of someone who has studied the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it looks like she will lose this unless she has warned eBay about a specific auction item that they refused to take down. If it is just a general "my books keep getting pirated and sold on your site," she'll lose under US law.
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 12:52 AM EST
Muggle
Points: 87
ronandhermione514 says:
I wouldn't exactly blame the people who download the illegal versions, 5225. In India, the book is really, really much too expensive for most people to afford. If Bloomsbury lowered the prices, maybe less people would download illegally. Still, that's absolutely no justification for eBay's actions, so it's good that she's taking a stand against piracy...
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 1:12 AM EST
Auror
Points: 2317
loopy looney says:
I think JK did the right thing with this, it is ridiculous for people to be selling fake things as the real thing...but my sister just bought one on eBay, and i hope it is not fake!!!
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 1:44 AM EST
Squib
Points: 192
TonksRocks!! says:
Good on her!!! its about time someone did something
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 2:56 AM EST
Order of Merlin, 3rd Class
Points: 1596
the_girl_who_lived89 says:
Good-good! I'm glad she's taking a stand against people like e-bay that sell illegal products.
Posted Feb 26, 2007 at 4:10 AM EST
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