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[Brian Dorband]

No: HPFGUIDX 7525

FYI for all HP Webmasters fro Yahoo news:



Thursday December 21 10:44 AM ET
      Time Warner Wins Against Harry Potter
      Cybersquatter 

      By Stephanie Nebehay

      GENEVA (Reuters) - Time Warner Entertainment Company, which owns 
the copyright to the blockbuster
      series of Harry Potter (news - web sites) children's books, on 
Thursday won its case against a California-based
      cybersquatter, arbitrators announced.

      A total of 107 Internet addresses -- such as 
(harrypotterbooks.org), (harrypotterfilm.org) and
      (harrypotterstudios.com) -- were ordered to be transferred to 
the media giant.

      The ruling echoes those won by stars such as actress Julia 
Roberts, and the singers Madonna (news - web
      sites) and Tina Turner, who brought cases to the United Nations 
(news - web sites) agency which promotes
      copyright protection, the World Intellectual Property 
Organization (WIPO).

      When news broke last March that the boy wizard Harry Potter's 
adventures were to be made into a film, a
      flurry of domain names appeared on the Internet, registered 
mainly by an entity known as HarperStephens.

      Arbitrators named by WIPO ruled that the entity, whose post 
office box address is in Agoura Hills, California,
      had ``no rights or legitimate interests'' in the domain names 
registered in ``bad faith.'' The panelists, Scott
      Donahey, Carol Anne Been and Dennis Arthur Foster, noted that 
Time Warner had ``promoted and advertised
      the books and related merchandise and created significant 
goodwill in connection with the (trade) marks.''

      HarperStephens registered the ``vast majority of the domain 
names...on the day or the day after the news
      broke on CNN.com of the upcoming release of the Harry Potter 
movie,'' they added.

      The film, based on British author J.K. Rowling (news - web 
sites)'s phenomenally successful four-book series,
      is directed by Chris Columbus, being shot in Britain and is due 
for release in November 2001.

      Daniel Radcliffe, an 11-year-old British boy who played a young 
David Copperfield on BBC television, edged
      out thousands of competitors to win the coveted role in ``Harry 
Potter and the Philosophers' Stone,'' based on
      Rowling's first book (1997).

      Ruling May Be Appealed In 10 Days

      Time Warner's film studio unit Warner Bros purchased the 
character's film and merchandising rights,
      trademarks and copyrights from Rowling.

      The fourth book, ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,'' has 
been a worldwide phenomenon with the largest
      initial print run ever. Total sales of the series run into 
millions of copies.

      The panel's order to transfer all of the domain names to Time 
Warner may be appealed within 10 days.

      The practice of cybersquatting -- when Web addresses are 
registered, often anonymously, in order to make
      money from a valuable domain name -- is criminal in some 
countries such as the United States.

      Several celebrities intent on protecting their name from 
cybersquatters have won rulings under the WIPO's
      fast-track arbitration procedure set up a year ago.