JACKSON, Wyo. — It’s a sad day for little witches and wizards in Jackson Hole. The Teton County Library’s (TCL) slate of Harry Potter programming has been canceled due to copyright infringement.
TCL announced the news on Wednesday, Oct. 2. TCL said it had received a cease-and-desist letter from Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., which owns and controls all things Potter.
“Prior to receiving the letter, Library staff was unaware that this free educational event was a copyright infringement,” TCL’s announcement reads. “In the past, libraries had been encouraged to hold Harry Potter-themed events to promote the books as they were released.”
Three events had been planned for October: A Night at Hogwarts, Harry Potter Trivia for Adults and Harry Potter Family Day.
“Library staff considered rebranding the planned activities using more generic terminology to avoid copyright infringement, but quickly realized that this was not practicable,” TCL said.
Library Director Kip Roberson said they didn’t make the decision lightly.
“Library staff put their all into creating these events, tweaking activities and details over eight years and expanding from the original after-hours event for kids by adding the adult and family programs,” he said in the announcement. “However, we also hold the value of intellectual property and its legal protections in high esteem. There are specific provisions that allow libraries to share materials and preserve works under the Copyright Act that are vital to our work and we respect the request by Warner Bros.”
TCL says it’s developing other programs that it hopes will be as popular as the Potter events.
