Rowling sues group in India

J.K. Rowling, creator of the Harry Potter series, is suing a community group in India for breach of copyright for re-creating Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a religious festival, group members said Thursday.

The British author and Warner Bros., who control the rights to the series in India, are seeking $50,000 in compensation from the community group in the eastern city of Kolkata.

The group is accused of erecting a massive structure in the shape of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the Hindu festival of the Goddess Durga, which celebrates her killing a demon and the victory of good over evil. A statue of the 10-armed goddess sitting on a lion, stabbing a demon emerging from a buffalo, dominates the set, and organizers are planning to include life-size models of the bespectacled Potter and his companions.

“We had no clue that we had to seek permission from the author,” said Santanu Biswas, secretary of the group that designed and paid for artists to make the tent.