India court rejects Harry Potter author's claim

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2007

NEW DELHI (AFP) — An Indian court on Friday threw out a claim by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling for damages from the organisers of a religious event who constructed a replica of her fictional Hogwarts Castle.

The Delhi High Court, however, ordered the organisers of the Durga Puja festivities in Kolkata not to use any characters from Rowling's books after the annual event without her permission.

Rowling and publishers Bloomsbury had sought two million rupees (50,000 dollars) from organisers who constructed an elaborate castle from canvas, papier mache and bamboo in the eastern metropolis for the four-day carnival beginning October 16.

Judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul said the permission to exhibit the castle would expire on October 26 -- or after Durga Puja, the...