Potter Parties Are Coming - Spoilsports Be Dammed

Local bookstores have been preparing their celebrations of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release for some time now. Whether or not you're into the whole Harry Potter Thing, Potter Mania is quite the spectacle.

Alas, Scholastic, who has the rights to the Potter books, and Warner Brothers, who has the rights to everything else Potter, are trying to throw a bucket of water on the parties with copyright restrictions. It's the last Harry Potter book, and you'd think they'd want to make as much hay out of the event as possible. Instead, Warner Brothers and Scholastic are sending out e-mails telling bookstores not to charge for events or to have cosponsors for the event.

The Globe reports that Brookline Booksmith got an e-mail saying its event was "too big and too commercial." But the profits are slated to go to the Brookline Teen Center Fund.

Well, isn't that Scroogey. Perhaps Scholastic and Warner Brothers want to make the events more affordable for their kids and their parents who might buy a ticket. But if they really wanted it to be affordable, they could have lowered the price of the book (the list price is $34.99 according to Harvard Book Store).

It appears that Scholastic and Warner Brothers wants to enlarge its slice of the profit pie, but the local bookstores are chugging ahead. At Brookline Booksmith, they have the entire Coolidge Corner neighborhood involved, and they have their own website dedicated to the event. They are billing it as "the largest Harry Potter® celebration in Massachusetts." Note the use of the "®" by Harry Potter. (Wait, does that mean we have to use the "®"? We're not trying to sell the book. If any of you lawyerly people are reading, will you let us know?) To avoid mass chaos, Brookline Booksmith also kindly explains their bookselling process.

At the same time, Harvard Square will become Hogwarts Square. Harry and the Potters will play Harvard Yard from 7 to 9 pm on Friday, July 20. Then Harvard Book Store will throw a bash. The event is free. The book is not. Elsewhere on Harvard Square, the Brattle will show Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the first of the Potter movies. Tickets are $38, but that includes a copy of the book.

Image of the last Potter book cover from Brookline Booksmith.