Check out this article.
Basically, some group from Winnipeg calling themselves the Wyrd Sisters are trying to block the movie from being shown in Canada, because they claim Warner Bros. is violating their trademark.
(The link wasn't working properly so here's the article. I found it on Yahoo Canada -
www.yahoo.ca)
WINNIPEG (CP) - A little-known Winnipeg folk group will have a chance next week to block the Nov. 18 premiere of the new Harry Potter movie across Canada.
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The Wyrd Sisters, who allege that Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire contains a scene with a musical group bearing their name, have secured a Nov. 4 court date to apply for an injunction barring distribution of the film.
The application for an injunction is part of a lawsuit the Wyrd Sisters filed in September against the Warner Brothers movie and music empire and three famous British musicians - Jarvis Cocker of the group Pulp and Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of Radiohead.
The lawsuit alleges the musicians appear in the film under the Wyrd Sisters moniker, and seeks $40 million plus punitive damages, interest and other costs.
The band's lawyer, Kimberly Townley-Smith, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. In an earlier interview, she said the Wyrd Sisters would suffer from public confusion over the name.
Warner Brothers is fighting the lawsuit, saying the movie contains no reference to a "Wyrd Sisters" group.
Although the company first approached the Winnipeg group and offered $5,000 to share the name, it says it eventually made the film with an unnamed musical group.
"There is absolutely no name . . . for the band that is playing," Warner Brothers spokesman Scott Rowe said from Los Angeles.
"They are never identified by name."
Rowe said Warner Brothers officials even flew to Canada last week to show the movie in its entirety to Townley-Smith in order to prove that the Wyrd Sisters name does not appear.
"We have (also) submitted sworn affidavits to the court, stating that the name Wyrd Sisters is not being used either in the film or on its soundtrack," Rowe said.
The legal dispute has stirred up heated debate on the Internet, with many Harry Potter and Radiohead fans calling the lawsuit a cash grab.
"(The) Wyrd Sisters ought to appreciate the publicity," reads a message posted in the fan forum on The Leaky Cauldron - a website for Potter fans.
"I guess they never made much money with their music, so they're trying to get rich off the fame of others."
Some Radiohead fans have posted expletive-filled rants on the Wyrd Sisters' message board.
Others have pointed out that William Shakespeare wrote about three witches called the weird sisters in MacBeth, while British author Terry Pratchett published a MacBeth-themed book called Wyrd Sisters almost 20 years ago.
But The Wyrd Sisters have said the battle is about fairness, not publicity.
"I really feel that morally we have the right to own our name and we have a right to go about our business without interference," lead singer Kim Baryluk told Chart magazine in September.
The Wyrd Sisters have announced that they are set to release a new CD and launch a tour in the near future.
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