London - A single mum who planned to host a Harry Potter themed dinner for Halloween in her London home has been threatened with legal action by a major Hollywood studio.
The woman, who goes by the name Ms Marmite Lover, runs 'The Underground Restaurant' from her home, hosting "pop
up" dinner parties and supper clubs for foodies.
She recently advertised her Harry Potter Night dinners on her online blog, selling tickets for Stg25 each (NZ$54) and began working on a menu inspired by the boy wizard stories.
Butterbeer, dandelion wine, pumpkin soup, and mint humbugs were to be included in the festivities.
But when Warner Bros heard about Ms Marmite Lover's party plans, it sent her a letter warning her that her dinner party would infringe its copyright over best-selling author JK Rowling's famous character.
Warner Bros said that while it was "delighted" she was a Harry Potter fan, "no one may copy, license, exhibit, reproduce or otherwise trade on the Harry Potter Properties without the prior authorisation and consent of Warner".
"We would, therefore, ask that you refrain from holding and/or offering for sale any tickets to the Harry Potter Nights and confirm to me by return email that the Harry Potter Nights will not go ahead as planned," the letter said.
"Warner does not, of course, object to you holding a generic wizard/Halloween night at the Underground Restaurant."
Ms Marmite Lover said she had written back to Warner Bros informing them she had changed the name of her Halloween dinner to 'Generic Wizard Night'.
"But I added that JK Rowling herself, having at one time been a struggling single parent, and having donated to the National Council of One Parent Families, would probably approve of a single mother being entrepreneurial and creative," she wrote on her blog.
She told London's Evening Standard newspaper the two dinner parties she was hosting on Friday and Saturday were sold out.
"The night is totally a fan's tribute and is a one-off," she said.
- AAP
