End of mass with Harry Potter. Warner Bros. Lawyers they hit the Norwegian cathedral

The “Harry Potter Holidays” masses planned for Easter in Oslo will have to be renamed “Movie Holidays.” After a Harry Potter-inspired anniversary service at Stavanger Cathedral, lawyers for Warner Bros. threatened the Lutheran Church of Norway with a lawsuit if this was repeated.

The dispute occurred after last year's celebration of the 900th anniversary of Stavanger and its cathedral. A special service referring to the world created by JK Rowling was organized in a medieval temple in the city center. There were queues in front of the entrance to the Lutheran cathedral, and some people did not get in due to lack of seats.

– A law firm contacted us on behalf of Warner Bros., which protects the rights to Harry Potter. It has been clearly indicated that we cannot do this again, Tove Marie Sortland, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Stavanger, told PAP.

As Sortland explained, the objections concerned the use of fonts, photos and visual effects known from the film series. There was also a call to stop similar actions in the future.

Representatives of the Lutheran Church of Norway emphasized that the aim of the events was to reach people who do not normally attend services.

– There are many good opportunities to convey the Christian message in the Harry Potter universe. And reaching as many people as possible with the Gospel is the basis of everything we do, Sortland noted.

Similar initiatives have been organized for years in the parish of Fagerborg in Oslo. This year's event, previously announced as “Harry Potter Christmas”, changed its name to “Movie Christmas” after lawyers' intervention. The organizers abandoned direct references to the characters and registered trademarks related to the film series.

From Oslo Mieszko Czarnecki (PAP)

cmm/ adj/