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Harry Potter magic 'leaks' to hypermarkets

Publisher threatens retailer with lawsuit after books arrive early at Tesco stores

By Victor Velek
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
February 27th, 2008 issue

Perhaps the only people the Harry Potter saga is enchanting these days are lawyers.
The publishing house Albatros, owner of the rights to J.K. Rowling’s bestselling fantasy series in the Czech Republic, is threatening to sue the large online retailer Vltava Stores for supplying copies of the series’ last book to the supermarket chain Tesco far ahead of the publisher’s schedule.
The official release of the Czech edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came Jan. 31. At the time, Albatros mandated that the much-anticipated release be sold only in bookstores until March. Despite this embargo, the book hit select Tesco stores as early as Feb. 5.
After Tesco announced it would be selling the book, an enraged Albatros filed a criminal complaint. The publisher was convinced Tesco’s copies must have been illegally produced, since the contracts Albatros signed with booksellers prohibited further distribution of Deathly Hallows.
However, it soon turned out it was Vltava Stores, one of Albatros’ customers, who provided Tesco with the Potter copies, routed through a third company.
“We purchased about 10,000 copies [from Albatros] and eventually sold about a half of the stock to another company,” Vltava Stores head Josef Suchánek told The Prague Post.
Suchánek refused to name the third-party firm but said Vltava knew the books would eventually end up in the hands of Tesco. The online retailer felt it had the right to sell the copies because Albatros breached an agreement the firms had on exclusivity rights for Internet sales of the book, Vltava said.
Albatros denies any such agreement ever existed.
“Albatros has not granted Vltava Stores any form of exclusivity,” said spokesman Radovan Suk.
The publishing house is now seeking compensation for damages caused by the contract violation.
“If Vltava Stores does not respond to our demands, we will launch legal proceedings against it so that rightful interests of both the author and Albatros are defended,” Suk said.
Suchánek confirmed his company has recently been called upon by Albatros to pay about 4 million Kč ($232,288). However, the clause in Vltava’s contract with Albatros forbidding redistribution is illegal and therefore not binding, an abuse of its monopoly position, Suchánek said.
This last claim has drawn the interest of the Anti-Monopoly Office, which began investigating Albatros after the quarrel received publicity in the local press. According to the competition watchdog, Albatros stands suspected of abusing its dominant market position.
“We’ve started to investigate the contracts signed between Albators and its customers,” said Kristián Chalupa, the agency’s spokesman.
Potter’s business spell
This is not the first time Rowling’s series has sparked upheaval in the book market. In 2004, Albatros employees discovered pirate copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in several warehouses across the country.
Last year, Vlastimil Svoboda, owner of the publishing house Ottovo nakladatelství, was found guilty of printing and selling the pirate books, receiving a one-year suspended sentence and fine. The case is still pending an appeal.
In the Czech Republic, like elsewhere in the world, the magnetism of Harry Potter is enormous. In a country where a book that sells 10,000 copies is considered a bestseller, the Harry Potter installments altogether have sold more than 1.5 million units to date.
So far, it seems it is Tesco that has benefited the most from the current controversy.
“Most of the stock has been sold out and we are buying an additional several thousand copies,” said Tesco spokeswoman Lucie Turnovská. “There is a great demand for the book.”

Victor Velek can be reached at vvelek@praguepost.com


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