Neither the teen wizard nor the massive effort to keep J.K. Rowling’s latest masterwork out of hand until the weekend proved successful. Apparently, a single bookseller in British Columbia let a dozen or so copies be sold and that put Raincoast Books Ltd, the Canadian publisher of the phenomenal children’s series, under the sorting hat.
The published promptly went to BC Supreme Court and received an injunction barring anyone from discussing the book, copying it, or in any form communicating anything other than what is already until the release date on July 16th at 12:01 a.m.
“Raincoast and Bloomsbury, along with our global partners, have promised fans of Harry Potter that we would do our best to ensure that they would be the first to discover the secrets contained within Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on July 16th,” said Jamie Broadhurst Director of Marketing for Raincoast Books in a press release, “and we felt that we had to take all necessary legal action to keep our promise to Canadian fans.”
The best selling Harry Potter series of books tells of the adventures of a little boy whose parents were murdered and he was forced to live with a rather unpleasant aunt and uncle. Things get interesting for the lad when he find out his parents were both wizards and the odd scar on his forehead played a part in their deaths.
This sixth book, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” continues to recount the story of the lad through quidditch tournaments and his ongoing battle with Voldemort, the murderer of his parent. He is joined by his best friends, Hermione and Ron, as well as a large supporting cast.
The books have been extraordinarily popular among children and adults alike and have been hailed as getting children truly excited about reading. The Harry Potter merchandising machine hasn’t been lax either after three movies, a fourth one coming, and literally tons of toys and toiletries and books and myriad other options. Coincidentally, Ms. Rowling has achieved personal wealth quite in excess of most others in the process as a result of her imagination.
It’s expected for hordes of Harry fans to wage assaults on retailers throughout the world including booksellers worth their salt, Wal-Mar and many other retailers. It’s really become quite the phenomenon.
BTW, thanks Ms. Rowling. I like the books too.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
