If you are Canadian, please boycott Wyrd Sisters. They are far
too GREEDY for their own good.
Harry Potter legal challenge next week could block
film's release in Canada
STEVE LAMBERT
Tue Oct 25, 6:32 PM ET
WINNIPEG (CP) - A little-known Winnipeg folk group will have a
chance next week to block the Nov. 18 premiere of the new Harry
Potter movie across Canada.
The Wyrd Sisters, who allege that Harry Potter and The Goblet Of
Fire contains a scene with a musical group bearing their name, have
secured a Nov. 4 court date to apply for an injunction barring
distribution of the film.
The application for an injunction is part of a lawsuit the Wyrd
Sisters filed in September against the Warner Brothers movie and
music empire and three famous British musicians - Jarvis Cocker of
the group Pulp and Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of
Radiohead.
The lawsuit alleges the musicians appear in the film under the Wyrd
Sisters moniker, and seeks $40 million plus punitive damages,
interest and other costs.
The band's lawyer, Kimberly Townley-Smith, was unavailable for
comment Tuesday. In an earlier interview, she said the Wyrd Sisters
would suffer from public confusion over the name.
Warner Brothers is fighting the lawsuit, saying the movie contains
no reference to a "Wyrd Sisters" group.
Although the company first approached the Winnipeg group and
offered $5,000 to share the name, it says it eventually made the
film with an unnamed musical group.
"There is absolutely no name . . . for the band that is playing,"
Warner Brothers spokesman Scott Rowe said from Los Angeles.
"They are never identified by name."
Rowe said Warner Brothers officials even flew to Canada last week
to show the movie in its entirety to Townley-Smith in order to
prove that the Wyrd Sisters name does not appear.
"We have (also) submitted sworn affidavits to the court, stating
that the name Wyrd Sisters is not being used either in the film or
on its soundtrack," Rowe said.
The legal dispute has stirred up heated debate on the Internet,
with many Harry Potter and Radiohead fans calling the lawsuit a
cash grab.
"(The) Wyrd Sisters ought to appreciate the publicity," reads a
message posted in the fan forum on The Leaky Cauldron - a website
for Potter fans.
"I guess they never made much money with their music, so they're
trying to get rich off the fame of others."
Some Radiohead fans have posted expletive-filled rants on the Wyrd
Sisters' message board.
Others have pointed out that William Shakespeare wrote about three
witches called the weird sisters in MacBeth, while British author
Terry Pratchett published a MacBeth-themed book called Wyrd Sisters
almost 20 years ago.
But The Wyrd Sisters have said the battle is about fairness, not
publicity.
"I really feel that morally we have the right to own our name and
we have a right to go about our business without interference,"
lead singer Kim Baryluk told Chart magazine in September.
The Wyrd Sisters have announced that they are set to release a new
CD and launch a tour in the near future.
