NEW YORK - The publisher and author of the Harry Potter novels on Wednesday sued New York's Daily News after the tabloid published minor excerpts from the much-anticipated book, giving away part of the plot to fans.
Scholastic Inc and author J.K. Rowling filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in the federal court for southern New York, accusing the newspaper of copyright infringement of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."
"We will vigorously defend any action and are confident we did nothing wrong journalistically or legally," Daily News spokesman Ken Frydman said.
In an article published on Wednesday, the newspaper reported it obtained a copy of the book at a store in the borough of Brooklyn.
The book, the fifth episode in the series, is set to be released at 12:01 am Saturday in London (11.01am NZ time), with events planned from New York and London to Australia and many points in between.
No advance copies were made available to the media as the publisher had hoped to keep the plot under wraps until the book's release, stoking the curiosity of Potter fans.
Previous Harry Potter books have been a publishing phenomenon, selling millions of copies. The books have also spawned successful movies, toys and related paraphernalia.
In the United States alone, the publisher plans a print run of about 8.5 million copies and the title has topped bestseller lists at online booksellers for weeks, based on advance sales.
Oddly, the newspaper secured its copy of the highly-protected new novel at a health-food store.
The store, which has a small book section, received a shipment of four Potter books on Monday. Claiming he was not informed of any embargo, the store's owner displayed them in his window for anyone to buy, the newspaper said.
Scholastic and Rowling said they filed suit seeking damages in the "tens of millions of dollars" against the newspaper for publishing the excerpts.
After seeing the flap he caused by selling his books early, the owner of the Brooklyn store told the newspaper, "I regret not ordering more."
The incident is not the first to foil the publisher's efforts at a choreographed release. Last Sunday, 7,680 copies of the book were snatched in a late-night heist in northern England.
And in Canada, one woman bought a copy of the book at a Wal-Mart nine days before the official release.
Earlier this month, the publisher of Hillary Clinton's memoir threatened to sue the Associated Press after that news agency published excerpts of the former first lady's look at eight years in the White House.
- REUTERS
(courtesy au.findlaw.com)