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Lots of Harry Potter Books in China, Not All of Them by the Author
The International Herald Tribune ^ | July 31, 2007 | By Howard W. French

Posted on 07/31/2007 5:17:17 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL

(SHANGHAI)--China could not wait for the official release date of the seventh book in the worldwide Harry Potter publishing franchise, a little more than a week ago. It came out here with an identical title a full 10 days before the official worldwide English language release - in a wholly unauthorized version.

Chinese writers and their fans are not having it with the idea that the seventh installment is the last word in the best-selling series, either. No one can say with any certainty what the full tally is, but there are easily a dozen fake Harry Potters on the market here already, and that is counting only bound versions of the mystery/adventure stories that are sold on street corners and can even be found in school libraries. Still more versions exist online.

Although they may bear her name, the proliferation of Harry Potter books here has nothing in common with the originator of the series, the British author J.K. Rowling, save for the appropriation of her famous characters' names. Here, the global Harry Potter phenomenon has mutated into something altogether Chinese: a combination of remarkable imagination and startling industriousness, all placed in the service of counterfeiting, literary fraud and copyright violation.

Wang Lili, editor of the China Braille Publishing House, which published "Harry Potter and the Chinese Porcelain Doll" in 2002, one of the numerous knockoffs here, said: "We published the book out of a very common incentive. Harry Potter was so popular that we wanted to enjoy the fruits of its widely accepted publicity in China."

The attitude reflected in Wang's comment goes a long way toward explaining not only the explosion of unauthorized Harry Potter literature in China, but also the much larger problem of rampant piracy in China, where travelers can find six different knockoffs......

(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; counterfeit; piracy
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1 posted on 07/31/2007 5:17:21 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
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To: JACKRUSSELL

Look for the 8th book... Harry Potter and the inaccurate knock-offs.


2 posted on 07/31/2007 5:20:19 PM PDT by irishtenor (There is no "I" in team, but there are two in IDIOT.)
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To: JACKRUSSELL

You no understandy! Book “Harry THE Potter”


3 posted on 07/31/2007 5:20:44 PM PDT by ontap (Just another backstabbing conservative)
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To: ontap

Hally Pottah?


4 posted on 07/31/2007 5:21:43 PM PDT by irishtenor (There is no "I" in team, but there are two in IDIOT.)
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To: irishtenor
Hally Pottah?

Hally Pottah on flied lice!!

5 posted on 07/31/2007 5:25:04 PM PDT by ontap (Just another backstabbing conservative)
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To: ontap

You vely funny ferrah. You comedian. Ha ha.


6 posted on 07/31/2007 5:27:15 PM PDT by irishtenor (There is no "I" in team, but there are two in IDIOT.)
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To: ontap

With soup, egg roll and fortune cookie?


7 posted on 07/31/2007 5:29:44 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: JACKRUSSELL; Allegra

I hear in one of the books Hermione’s cat Crookshanks gets served for dinner.


8 posted on 07/31/2007 5:31:04 PM PDT by humblegunner (Word up!)
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To: irishtenor

No comederum!!


9 posted on 07/31/2007 5:40:16 PM PDT by ontap (Just another backstabbing conservative)
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To: JACKRUSSELL

How does “a certain disregard for rules” translate into Chinese?


10 posted on 07/31/2007 5:40:16 PM PDT by Oztrich Boy (“Serious-minded people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious.” Paul Valery)
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To: Grizzled Bear

You likey you getty!


11 posted on 07/31/2007 5:41:15 PM PDT by ontap (Just another backstabbing conservative)
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To: JACKRUSSELL

Hmm...”Harry Potter and the Running-Dog Imperialist Lackey” - I thought it was just a poor translation...


12 posted on 07/31/2007 5:41:57 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: JACKRUSSELL
Harry Potter, the Running Dog Capitalist Wizard, Goes to Reeducation Camp
13 posted on 07/31/2007 5:43:36 PM PDT by quark
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To: Oztrich Boy

Well, for example, when I put out a rip-off book like this, I’ll have to call it “Harvey Porter” and sell it out of the back of my van on the far part of a parking lot so that the store owners don’t notice. I don’t know if they’ll sell as well as those velvet Elvis portraits, though.


14 posted on 07/31/2007 5:45:36 PM PDT by Emmett McCarthy
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To: ontap

You sillious? You no fun guy? (dat mushloom, haha.)


15 posted on 07/31/2007 5:47:24 PM PDT by irishtenor (There is no "I" in team, but there are two in IDIOT.)
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To: irishtenor

What ever could you be talking of!!


16 posted on 07/31/2007 5:50:06 PM PDT by ontap (Just another backstabbing conservative)
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To: JACKRUSSELL

“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Toxic Food Additives”


17 posted on 07/31/2007 5:59:10 PM PDT by Disambiguator
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To: Disambiguator

LOL


18 posted on 07/31/2007 6:49:35 PM PDT by AndyTheBear (Disastrous social experimentation is the opiate of elitist snobs.)
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To: irishtenor

Doing the work that English Citizens won’t do ...


19 posted on 07/31/2007 7:00:33 PM PDT by RS ("I took the drugs because I liked them and I found excuses to take them, so I'm not weaseling.")
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To: JACKRUSSELL

You ought to know that China is the king of counterfiet anything!!


20 posted on 07/31/2007 7:01:31 PM PDT by lndrvr1972
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