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 ...
Yeah, and they're watching Lupin reeeeeal close 'round full moon time.
OMG, that is TOO funny.
Business as usual.
How far are you in, btw?
POTTER PING!
I have this bad habit of falling asleep at night....{sigh...}
How far are you? Or are you done?
Oh, I be done. I got it the Saturday it was released at noon, and finished right around 6:30 Sunday evening (I had crochet class Saturday afternoon).
Are you just lovin’ it?
Yes! Action-packed every minute.
I got mine last Sunday and plan to really go on all cylinders Friday when we have some down time.
My boss's grown son back home alerady finished it and sent my boss a list of names of who dies. He keeps threatening to tell me, but he wouldn't really do it.
A friend of mine went to buy the book the Saturday afternoon it came out and while she was there some guy ran into the store and shouted out the ending.
She said there were several grown men who had just purchased copies who actually chased the guy out of the store hitting him with their books.
I understand Cho Chang overthrows Voldemort in this one.
Or was it Ka Ching?
I’m SO surprised!
LOL. that's true.
Another good point about this story: most people have no idea the level of corruption in Asian and Middle Eastern society. Corruption is not only tolerated, it's expected. It's simply part of the culture.
The Chinese don't see it as stealing someone else's work when they publish these knock off Harry Potter books. It's just another business opportunity. The notion of "stealing" or "copyright violation" never even crosses their minds.
“The notion of “stealing” or “copyright violation” never even crosses their minds.”
This is the Chinese year 4705, the copyright on books published way back in the early 2000’s expired centuries ago.
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