Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass.

[Dave]

I already posted about the Harry Potter and the Walk up the Dragon Chinese counterfeit book, now there is a Russian version too: Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass.

Associated Press -- MOSCOW -- From the jagged, jumbled lettering of the title to the picture of a youngster flying through the air framed by pillars, the book looks fantastically familiar. But the figure on the front isn't Harry Potter - it's Tanya Grotter, heroine of a Russian series that has the boy wizard's backers crying plagiarism.

While Tanya Grotter is an 11-year-old girl and rides a magical double bass instead of a broomstick, she shares several attributes with her near-namesake: Like Potter, she is an orphan, wears glasses and has an unusual mark on her face - a mole on her nose. And like the Potter books, the Grotter series is full of fanciful magic words that set spells in motion.

The author of both Grotter books, Dmitry Yemets, said his work was "entirely independent." However, he also said it was meant in part as a parody of the Harry Potter series, but with roots in Russian culture and folklore.

"It's a sort of Russian answer to Harry Potter," said Yemets, a philologist by training and a specialist in Russian folklore. He said he sees his books as being in a "cultural competition" with the Harry Potter series, which has sold about 1.2 million copies in Russia.

Saying the resemblance goes far deeper than the cover, lawyers for Potter author J.K. Rowling, her Russian publisher and Warner Brothers have threatened to sue Eksmo, the publisher of "Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass," unless it withdraws the book and promises not to print any more.

[Tabitha]

The author of both Grotter books, Dmitry Yemets, said his work was "entirely independent." However, he also said it was meant in part as a parody of the Harry Potter series, but with roots in Russian culture and folklore.

Isn't that a kind of contradiction in terms?

I also can't figure out what a philologist is...

[Dave]

Originally posted by Tabitha
I also can't figure out what a philologist is...

Apparently, Philology n. the study of language, esp. in its historical and comparative aspects. I didn't know that either.

Originally posted by Tabitha
Isn't that a kind of contradiction in terms?

This is a blatent copy, that's why his argument won't hold up to the light. I just think all these counterfeit books are amusing. When I first heard the report of this on the radio, a spokeswoman for such matters said that Bloomsbury would probably just have to accept them as being due to the popularity of Harry Potter. If they try to issue writs for every one of them, it will cost them too much, take up too much time, and ultimately be impossible to stop anyway.

[Hermione]

Reuters

Harry Potter trounces Tanya Grotter in court
Thu 6 November, 2003 17:34



By Otti Thomas

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Boy wizard "Harry Potter" has trounced Russia's "Tanya Grotter" after an appeals court upheld a ban on the Dutch publication of a Russian novel judges said aped J.K. Rowling's best-selling book.

The Amsterdam appeals court said the similarities between Dmitry Yemets' "Tanya Grotter and the Magic Double Bass" and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" were too close and upheld the view that the book infringed Rowling's copyright.

"The impression left by the Tanya Grotter story is too similar in many essential aspects to be regarded as an independent creation," the court said in a written ruling on Thursday.

Byblos, publisher of the Dutch translation of the Tanya Grotter book, acknowledged the novel was based on Harry Potter, saying it should be considered not as plagiarism but as a "polemic that quotes from Harry Potter".

The court also rejected Byblos' contention that Harry Potter could not be considered a brand name.

Yemets himself had argued that his book was a parody of the Potter novels and said he trusted his readers to be able to tell the difference between Potter and Grotter.

The Harry Potter books, chronicling the adventures of a bespectacled English schoolboy wizard, have stormed best-seller lists worldwide. Media giant Time Warner has turned the books into hit movies grossing more than $1.7 billion.

Meanwhile Tanya Grotter has cast a spell over Russian readers, with over half a million books being sold in Russia.

Rowling and Time Warner won an injunction from the Amsterdam district court in April to block publication of 7,000 copies of a Dutch translation of Yemets' book published by Byblos.

Lawyer Eric Keyzer, representing Rowling, said the ruling could have international consequences.

"We have heard that 22 countries are waiting for this ruling. I don't think there is a publisher who will take the economic risk of going against this ruling," said Keyzer, who also acted for Time Warner and De Harmonie, the Dutch publisher of the Harry Potter books.

Byblos owner Boudewijn Richel told Reuters: "It is a pity. We tried to show the books are different. But this doesn't mean we cannot publish any other of his (Yemets') books."

Yemets, however, was upbeat. "I am optimistic... Sometimes it takes quite a while for a book to reach its readers," he told Reuters.