Goddess Durga, Harry Potter and Copyright

First it was Turmeric. Now, magical mythical characters ! People in the Western world trying their copyright stunts on Indians and our ancient knowledge and traditions ...

Indian Newspapers on October 11th said something like this :

"J.K.Rowling, the creator of fictional character Harry Potter filed a copyright violation case against a Kolkata-based puja committee. The suit is filed with the Delhi High Court for using statues of the Harry Potter characters without prior permission. Lawyers representing the Edinburgh-based author and Warner Brothers, who hold the rights for the Harry Potter series in India, confirmed that a petition had been filed in the Delhi High Court. The suit seeks restraint order from the court against the Puja organizers in Salt Lake area of the city from using Harry Potter characters on the pandal."

It all started with the organisers of the Durga Puja festival at Salt Lake deciding to create the pandal like the imaginary Hogwarts Castle. The four-day Durga Puja festival which begins on October 17 is the biggest Hindu festival in east India. In Kolkata alone, more than 10,000 pandals -- elaborately crafted temporary structures in various themes -- are set up to venerate the goddess. This festival is celebrated on the occasion of Goddess Durga's killing a demon and the victory of good over evil.

People from all over the country visit the city at this time, and it is considered a matter of great pride and honor for local communities if their pandals are praised for originality and getting the most visitors.

They seemed to have spent more than ₤ 15,000 for this. Now, there was a danger yesterday that it may have to be dismantled if the copyright violation case continues. The organizers were also on the verge of constructing a mock steam train next to the castle set, which was intended to resemble the Hogwarts Express.

Like all of us, typical Indians, the organisers had no clue that they need to seek permission from the author. They thought the immense popularity of Harry Potter will make a good theme.

Meanwhile, kids of the locality were reported to be irked over the legal action initiated by the author and her associates. They felt that the move will definitely spoil their festivities, the greatest in eastern India.

The organizers did not want to leave everything to Durga and heavenly intervention alone. Durga, probably, had the capacity to kill demons - for which the Durga puja is celebrated, incidentally. But, courts, copyright petitions and insecure authors are a different ball game altogether. They were not sure whether Durga will be able to do it and went to Court instead.

They decided to send a team of three lawyers, one of them a Supreme Court advocate, to fight their case in the Delhi High Court. And, lo, what the court did !

The court allowed the group in Kolkata to use the structure until October 26, when the festival ends. "The court has given us permission to use the Pandal (the structure) and whatever has been made till the 26th of October, no compensation has been directed to be paid," the community's lawyer, Soumitra Ghose Chaudhuri told the Press later.

The group's lawyer seemed to have argued that since the celebrations were held in the public interest and they were not for profit, the community did not need to pay compensation. "We are quite overjoyed with the court's order," said Santanu Biswas, a leading community member.

First of all, our elders should have registered all our mythological stories - a few thousand years ago itself. It would not have been possible for Rowling and her ilk to write about flying animals and chariots, talking doors and scary castles. If the good old people in India had thought of 'protecting' all the magic tricks abound in our mythology, we could have stopped this billionaire author from suing our kids in Calcutta for Two Million rupees. Alas, we never thought of it. Our people felt stories are for kids and they are to be told to children wherever they are. We thought stories and the characters are for joy - we never thought of selling them !

The High Court might have saved us, but the agents may go to the Supreme Court. But, as of now, the Goddess Durga seemed to have conquered one more evil - the copyright freaks !