The Delhi High Court on Friday granted permission to a mondal decorator of Kolkata to use the Hogwarts Castle and idols modelled on characters from author J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series to decorate a Durga Puja pandal at Salt Lake.
Mr Justice S K Kaul said, “The decorator and the puja committee are granted one time permission to use the statues and the gate depicting Harry Potter characters from J K Rowling's book as the Dasara festival is on.”
The judge made it clear that from next year onwards the puja committee would have to seek the author’s permission.
Rowling’s counsel had alleged in a petition to the Delhi High Court that the decorators violated the Copyright Act by erecting the pandal without obtaining permission from her.
Rowling, who filed the petition in absentia, alleged that the decorators had violated the Copyright Act by building the castle replica without obtaining permission from the author. The petition had demanded Rs 20 lakh Puja committee for creating the Hogwarts Castle pandal and others from Harry Potter to attract viewers.
