ABSTRACT
Harry Potter, originally a brainchild of British Author JK Rowling, today, is not just confined to the publishing phenomena of a series of seven fiction novels and the box office marvel of eight cinematograph films based out of it , but includes, within its ambit a plethora of other business, to include, theme parks, websites, merchandise like food, music, costumes, toys, board games etc, amounting to a whopping twenty five billion USD. Therefore, the colossal amount of financial incentive and immense popularity of the brand, thus evolved, has resulted in a plethora of attempts of piracy and infringement, across the globe, leading to an aggressive enforcement of Intellectual Property rights to deter the same. The IP, thus created, is protected either in the form of copyright over the characters, books, which is owned by the author and motion pictures, which she owns jointly with the producers, Warner Bros, and trademark over merchandise, theme parks, toys etc, exclusively owned by the producers. One of the most glaring examples of IP rights enforcement in the twenty first century, Harry Potter, has been defended successfully in multiple jurisdictions across the globe, becoming a classic case study on how the Utilitarian legal fiction of greatest happiness to maximum people can be realised, only ‘only if one remembers to turn on the lights’, which in the instant case is Intellectual Rights protection.
Thus, the creative expression of Harry Potter, coupled with the sprawling business, that it has evolved into, has been prone to plethora of attempts of misappropriation and piracy across the globe, since its very inception and therefore, has employed the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights to counter the same.
Dhyani, Ishan and Bose, Shilpi, An Analysis of the Revenue Model of the Harry Potter Empire through the Lens of Intellectual Property Jurisprudence (April 1, 2025).
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