The New York Times has an article about The Motion Picture Association of America's ratings code - G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17 - being used in relation to fanfictions - including those featuring Potter.

The association recently sent letters and emails to people who write online fan fiction, demanding that they stop tagging stories with the ratings.

"We have a right to go after people who use our trademarks without permission, big or small, whenever we find out about them," said John Feehery, executive vice president for the association.

Wendy Seltzer, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation said it is not a trademark infringement, "It's like saying a beverage tastes like Coke."

Heidi Tandy from The Leaky Cauldron, is also quoted in the article pointing out that the ratings are used by foreign films and are therefore not exclusive to the association. She also said that the association would have trouble stripping its ratings from the 'cultural vocabulary'.

The rest of the article can be read here.

Source: The Snitch

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