Radiohead, Jarvis Cocker And Harry Potter Vs. Canadian Folk Group
Canadian folk group Wyrd Sisters are (somewhat foolishly some might say) suing members of Radiohead, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and Warner Brothers Movies over the new Harry Potter film.
The band, who have been around for 15 years, are suing Warner Brothers Entertainment Canada, Warner Brothers Records, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and Radiohead's Phil Selway and Jonny Greenwood for trademark infringement in an Ontario court.
This stems from a scene in the new Harry Potter movie, ‘Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire’, in which a band of wizards play at the Hogwarts Yule Ball. The band comprised of Cocker, Radiohead drummer Phil Selway and guitarist Jonny Greenwood are called The Wyrd Sisters
But the original Wyrd Sisters singer Kim Baryluk has claimed if their named is used they will suffer, saying;
"[Harry Potter] is so much more huge than us in their reach that we'll go out on tour a month after the movie comes out — and we'll go all over to Australia, to New Zealand, and people will wonder who are these strange people stealing the Harry Potter name?"
Baryluk was originally sent a letter by Warners offering her first $5,000, then $50,000 to share their name, which she promptly turned down, and explains that renaming and re-establishing the band would cost a great deal more.
"Do you know what I've spent on the band in the past 10 years?" she said to Chart Attack, "In the last 10 years I've spent more than a million dollars. Offering me $50,000 is more than an insult."
There has been no official statement from Warners at present – though is reported they’re insisting that the band won’t; be referred to as The Wyrd Sisters in the film, but Chart Attack quotes an unnamed member of Radiohead's management saying,
"[Johnny and Phil] were asked to be in the film to be The Wyrd Sisters, which is what J.K. Rowling called the band and then there's this [Canadian] band called The Wyrd Sisters, so now they can't be called The Wyrd Sisters. The [Canadian] Wyrd Sisters are just trying to sue them for namesake. The whole story is just a couple of people in a band trying to get some money."
It could be said that actually suing members of Radiohead for their role in the situation is rather ridiculous. Baryluk’s lawyer Kimberly Townley-Smith however, disagrees, saying. "They're the band. Whether Warners made them or paid them, they were performing as The Wyrd Sisters. We hope there's artists respect there as well."
Daft.
Text XFMNEWS to 83XFM to subscribe to Xfm’s Music News Alerts service
Texts cost 25p. Full details here.
To discuss this story on the Xfm News Messageboard click here.
Back to Music News click here.
Have you got a music news story? E-mail the Xfm News Desk below.
Tagged as Jarvis Cocker, archive
Login to xfm+
latest videos
-
Queens Of The Stone Age At Reading
-
Glasvegas At Reading
-
The Cribs At Reading
-
CSS At Reading
schedule
-
now: 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Xfm takes a look back at the week in music news, with your hosts Matt Dyson and Sunta Templeton.
-
next: 8:00PM - 9:00PM
An hour of the best live music recorded exclusively for Xfm.