Johnson's Russia List
#6617
26 December 2002
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A CDI Project
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#5
Decision on possible legal action against publishers of Tanya Grotter books
to be made within a month

MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax) - The holders of the copyright for the books
about Harry Potter will decide whether to sue a firm that published books
about Tanya Grotter within a month.
   "A London legal firm which represents the interests of Joan Rowing, the
author of Harry Potter, and the Warner Brothers company, the holder of the
brand, will decide whether it will pursue legal action before the New Year
holidays or immediately after them," Tatyana Uspenskaya, marketing director
of the Rosman publishing house, told Interfax on Thursday.
   Rosman owns the copyright of the Russian version of Harry Potter books.
   Uspenskaya stressed that "the Eksmo publishing house (which published a
series of Dmitry Yemets's books about sorcerer girl Tanya Grotter) is
conducting an increasingly aggressive policy to gain a major foothold on
the book market, and has repeatedly shown improper conduct towards other
publishing houses. But the appearance of "Tanya Grotter" simply had an
explosive effect in the publishing world."
   She said that the books about Tanya Grotter have already been translated
into English and are being studied by independent experts in Britain and
Russia. "Experts say that 'Tanya' is not the author's version of Rowling's
book but true plagiarism," Uspenskaya noted.
   London lawyers will file a lawsuit with a Russian court located in the
district where Eksmo is registered, should they decide to take this step,
she said.
   Meanwhile, the Eksmo publishing house expressed confidence that they
will manage to "defend Tanya Grotter." "If they decide to go to court, then
that's their choice. We will be pleased to get this situation resolved from
a legal standpoint, this case does not involve any copyright violations,
and we are confident that we will manage to prove that," Eksmo press
attach? Alexei Shekhov said.
   Shekhov said that the London lawyers and Rosman sent his publishing
house an "ultimatum" calling that "the publication, marketing, distribution
and sale of illegal books" about 'Tanya' be stopped by November 10.
Otherwise, they threatened to sue.
   "Despite the fact that Yemets' books continue to be distributed, no
steps have been taken so far - no officials lawsuits or attempts to invite
us to the negotiating table [have been made]," he said.
   Shekhov questioned the objectivity of experts' examination of the
English version of the Tanya Grotter books. "We can only guess how 'Baba
Yaga' (a traditional Russian fairy-tale character) and 'kikimoras' have
been translated. Experts will examine some other works which have nothing
in common with those of Yemets," he noted.
   In the meantime, books about Tanya Grotter are taking a firm foothold on
the children's book market. A total of 170,000 books have been published
since late August. Two radio plays based on the first two books in the
series, 'Tanya Grotter and the Magic Double Bass' and 'Tanya Grotter and
the Vanishing Floor', have been directed.

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