Bollywood wins Hari Puttar case

Published September 22, 2008

NEW DELHI A New Delhi court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by Hollywood studio Warner Bros against the makers of Bollywood film `Hari Puttar` over its title, lawyers for both sides said.

Warner Bros, which owns the rights to the blockbuster `Harry Potter` movies, argued the Indian film sounded too similar to the name of their young wizard hero.

`The case has been dismissed. The court said that Warner Bros had known the title of the film since 2005 and had delayed bringing the case to court until the last moment,` lawyer Pratibha Singh told AFP.

The Delhi High Court added that consumers who read the `Harry Potter` books, written by J.K. Rowling, were sufficiently educated to know `Hari Puttar` was different, the lawyer said.

Lawyers for Warner Bros confirmed the ruling but declined to comment.

`Hari Puttar - A Comedy of Terrors` was due to open earlier this month, but producers delayed its release after some television networks refused to air the trailers due to the legal dispute.

The film — a comedy about the adventures of a 10-year-old Indian boy whose family moves to England — is scheduled to premiere in Mumbai on Wednesday and will be on general release from Friday.

The makers of `Hari Puttar` said their product had nothing in common with the boy wizard movies.

`Our film bears no resemblance to the Hollywood film Harry Potter and it is a completely different story,` Munish Purii, chief operating officer of Mumbai-based Mirchi Movies, had earlier told reporters.

Producers argued that Hari was a common Indian name and `Puttar` is Hindi for son.

Warners next Harry Potter instalment, `Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,` is due for worldwide release next summer. It is the sixth movie adaptation of Rowlings seven books.

The Harry Potter films have grossed more than 4.47 billion dollars since 2001, making it one of the most lucrative franchises of all time.