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While this would not normally seem completely on-topic for the Baker Street Blog, it is my pleasure to announce that the final installment in the Harry Potter series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (standard edition) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (deluxe edition), is now available for pre-order on Amazon. The book will be released on July 21, 2007.



The reason that this news is relevant here is that J.K. Rowling has indicated that there will be another death in this book. Speculation is running wild that the death may be Harry Potter himself. Rowling, no stranger to literature, mythology and biblical texts, no doubt finds that she is in a similar position to Arthur Conan Doyle, who killed off Sherlock Holmes in "The Final Problem."

What will become of Harry? Will numerous Potter pastiches litter the planet if Rowling is finished with him? Probably not. The U.K.'s richest woman undoubtedly has the characters protected by copyright trademark; an oversight for which Conan Doyle's heirs never forgave him. Whatever the outcome, we can thank Rowling for helping children become interested in reading again.

6 comments:

Jon Lellenberg said... February 3, 2007 at 8:24 AM

Not a terribly good understanding of how copyright and character rights are related, I'm afraid, either legally or, in the case of "Conan Doyle's heirs," historically.

Anonymous said... February 3, 2007 at 9:47 AM

Perhaps Mr. Lellenberg would care to dismount from his high horse and educate the rest of us. That would be a little more constructive than nitpicking and pointing out errors ad infinitum.

Scott said... February 3, 2007 at 10:09 AM

I have no problem with Jon's comment as it stands. If anything, we can be educated on human nature.

Jon Lellenberg said... February 3, 2007 at 11:26 AM

This bogsite is not the place for explanations of legal issues affecting the rights of the Conan Doyle Estate, any more than it should be for comments about a mythical "oversight for which Conan Doyle's heirs never forgave him." But I'm pleased to have been able to contribute to Scott's and his invisible friend Anonymous's education, if that's the case.

Cliff Goldfarb said... February 3, 2007 at 12:43 PM

Substitute "trademark" for "copyright" and you'd be a lot closer to the mark

Scott said... February 3, 2007 at 1:20 PM

Thank you, Cliff, for that clarification. This is the type of helpful and collegial commenting that helps to bring our Sherlockian community closer together.

 
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