Canadian Folk Band Wants Harry Potter DVDs, CDs, Games Destroyed Due To Similar Name
from the oh-come-on dept
With all the attention the Streisand Effect is getting these days, don't be surprised when we see more people trying to use it on purpose to their own advantage. Witness the story sent in by reader Jon R, where a Canadian folk singing group is suing Warner Bros. Studios, demanding that all Harry Potter DVDs, CDs and video games that mentioned "The Weird Sisters" be destroyed. Why? Because the folk group has a name similar, but not the same as "The Weird Sisters." It seems like such a blatant "lawsuit for the sake of publicity" that we won't even bother to name the actual folk group's name. The band isn't suggesting that the Harry Potter stories are riding on its fame (which would be the normal trademark claim), but is saying that because they're such an unknown act, people will think they ripped the name off from Harry Potter: "Consumers will assume that the smaller and less famous Canadian band is trying to take advantage of the Harry Potter fame." Actually, my guess is that they'll think that a lot more for this bogus lawsuit than for having a different, but similar, name. Warner Bros., for its part, notes that the folk group filed a similar suit before, and was told to pay $140,000, which it has not.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: harry potter, streisand effect, the weird sisters, trademark
Companies: warner brothers studios
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Wyrd Sisters
Clearly the Canadian band is a bunch of jackasses.
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Too Wyrd!
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Wyrd Sisters
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There's no way I'd buy their music just because of this. Lil' whiners.
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JKR prolly knew this
So even when you do your due diligence, it can come back to haunt you.
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Yep
The band formed in 1991
The book was published in 1988
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Re: JKR prolly knew this
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Re:
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More like The Scary Sisters!
From the photo, looks more like The Scary Sisters. Yikes!
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Err... Shakespeare anyone?
So please no more comments about Rowling or Pratchett - you're about 500 years too late...
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Re: Err... Shakespeare anyone?
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Err... Shakespeare anyone?
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Re: Err... Shakespeare anyone?
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Shake, spear, kick in the rear
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suing warner bros
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also - cod piece jokes are always funny!
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Re: Shake, spear, kick in the rear
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what's left?
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http://www.ateaseweb.com/2005/10/01/canadian-folk-group-sues-jonny-phils-wyrd-sisters/
No t sure how that all ended, but I know a judge blocked their attempt to keep the movie out of distribution:
http://www.ateaseweb.com/2005/11/05/judge-dismisses-wyrd-sisters-motion-to-block-hp -film/
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Re: Too Wyrd!
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Re: Re: Too Wyrd!
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can i sue for no apperant reason too!? :)
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Re: Err... Shakespeare anyone?
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Re: Re: Shake, spear, kick in the rear
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Re: Re: JKR prolly knew this
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