Teton County Library in Jackson, Wyoming, has held Harry Potter-themed literacy programming for local kids for years. The events are ending after legal threats from Warner Brothers. In the past the company has encouraged such activities, but it's rebooting Harry Potter and wants to make sure the decks are cleared of deauthorized content and all the little brains wiped and ready for their new Vision for the Franchise.
The library said in a press release Thursday that it acted in response to a cease-and-desist letter from legal representatives of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., the owner of copyright and other intellectual property rights related to the films featuring child wizard Harry Potter. Before receiving the letter, the library's staff "was unaware that this free educational event was a copyright infringement," the release said. "In the past, libraries had been encouraged to hold Harry Potter-themed events to promote the books as they were released."
Culture-gating legal unpleasantness from the usual suspects. But hey, kids, guess what: a cool thing about libraries is you get to read another book.
