German courts keep Potter fans waiting

Amateur translation of latest Potter book banned in Germany

By Ann Busby, CNN.com writer

BERLIN -- The teenage wizard Harry Potter has failed to cast a spell over the courts in Germany. They have ruled that German fans will have to wait until October to read his latest adventure in their own language.

J.K. Rowling's creation is a big hit in Germany, with the first three books in her series topping the best-seller lists.

Translations of the fourth, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", are not due out until October 14 -- more than three months after the book was published in Britain and the United States.

One group of enterprising German fans, with time on their hands during the summer holiday period, decided they could not wait that long.

Fourteen-year-old Anna Koeleman, from Berlin, got hold of an English copy of the book and, with a few friends, began translating it.

Her father Bernd, a computer expert, recruited a few more Potter enthusiasts over the Internet and set up his own website -- www.harry-auf-deutsch.de. -- on which the first six chapters soon appeared.

The Hamburg publishing house Carlsen Verlag was quick to react. It took legal action against Herr Koeleman. An injunction was served under which he was forced to remove the amateur translation or face up to two years in jail or a fine of DM500,000.

"I was a little bit surprised. I was only supporting my daughter and she and her friends were only doing it to occupy themselves during the summer school vacation," Koeleman told CNN.com.

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"It was a pedagogical exercise not a commercial one. German students were being encouraged to use their time well, reading an English book. It was also a way of creating communication between Harry Potter fans."

Carlsen Verlag does not agree that it was harmless fun.

"We know it wasn't a commercial venture but that isn't the point. We asked Mr Koeleman not to do it because it hurts the author's copyright and our right to publish the German translation," a spokeswoman said.

"He refused so we were forced to take legal action.

"I realise fans of Harry Potter want to see the latest book as soon as possible but it is more than 800 pages long. We have to translate it, print it, bind it. All that takes time."

Koeleman believes the company is being too old-fashioned.

"They have a lot of fear of the Internet. They don't understand it can actually support the selling of a book," he said.

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"They fear that if the whole book is published on the Internet people won't buy copies. But who reads 800 pages on screen? Who prints off 800 pages on their small printer? That would be more expensive than buying the book."

One million copies of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" are due to hit the shelves of German bookshops on October 14.

But some of the country's Potter fans are promising that, whatever the earthly constraints set by the courts, more chapters may soon find their way onto a new Internet site -- as if by magic.

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