Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Warner Bros. responds to angry Harry Potter fans
Published on October 1, 2008
After Warner Bros. shuffled the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from November 2008 to July 2009, legions of Harry Potter fans cried into the etherial realm of cyberspace to express their displeasure. Sure, Warner Bros. released an official statement to reassure the fans that they weren't trying to intentionally hurt them -- but suppose that there was another response to the fan outcry? That's the idea behind this comedic short about to be thrown at your eyeballs:
JK Rowling wins Harry Potter copyright suit
Published on September 8, 2008
According to The Hollywood Reporter:
A judge ruled Monday in favor of "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling in her copyright infringement lawsuit against a fan and Web site operator who was set to publish a Potter encyclopedia. U.S. District Judge Robert P. Patterson said Rowling had proven that Steven Vander Ark's "Harry Potter Lexicon" would cause her irreparable harm as a writer. He permanently blocked publication of the reference guide and awarded Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. $6,750 in statutory damages. [more at source]
Fantastic, justice has been served. An author gets to protect their earnings gained by squeezing their own creative juices onto the page. Who else could have come up with a bespectacled and disaffected British teen who's dealing with authority figures while learning to become one of the world's most powerful sourcerers? The answer? Neil Gaiman. Seven years before Harry Potter Gaiman published The Books of Magic with a character named Timothy Hunter who even looks like Harry Potter.

The similarities are kind of close. I know it's old news but I thought it appropriate to bring up again seeing as the workd copyright is being bandied about. Rowling denies any prior knowledge of Gaiman's books and Gaiman himself says he's OK with the similarities. Perhaps Carl Jung was right when he wrote about the collective unconscious. I know I as a writer have seen my stories appear on screen over and over again, and I don't presume anyone has stolen them. However, just for conspiracy's sake, Warner Bros optioned The Books of Magic but the project never went anywhere. They also own the movie rights to the multi-billion dollar Harry Potter franchise. Interesting. You can make of that what you will. Regardless, justice has been served. I guess. You can see more about the next film in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on the official MovieSet sitelet for the movie.