A Military Magazine (Preventive Maintenance Monthly) ran a
Potter spoof in May 2004. It featured characters such as Professor Snappy and Professor Rumbledoore.
As a result, lawyers representing JK & WB started
investigating into a possible breach of copyright.
Dave Zweifel, a writer for the
Capital Times, has now labelled their greed as having no limits.
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Armies can't win, after all, if their equipment doesn't work and the equipment won't work if the soldiers don't know how to fix it. This becomes especially important in an environment like Iraq.
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The sergeant learns that preventive maintenance is necessary before every flight on a broomstick because magic wands need a light coating of oil once a week - all aimed at reminding the soldiers reading the episode that their equipment needs regular coating, too.
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But these days our corporate-dominated entertainment industry has started to rear its ugly head.
J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame, and Warner Bros., which produces movies from her immensely popular and hugely successful books, have informed the Army that it is messing with their copyright by having old Sgt. Half-Mast interact with Harry Potter.
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The Army has pointed out that no one is making any money off the magazine, it's just aimed at helping keep soldiers safe.
Dave ends the piece by saying, "Greed today, however, has no limits."
Ken Crunk, the editor of the magazine, has continually denied that the characters used, look anything like the Potter ones, “The drawings were done by a contracted artist for us. They do not look like any of the characters from Harry Potter."
However it was later
reported, in February that, after talks with lawyers, the magazine creators had decided, "We are not going to use the likeness of 'Harry Potter' characters again."
Source:
Capital Times