Chandigarh: Will Harry Potter die? No one is telling, least of all author J.K.Rowling who has spoken at length about ‘spoilers’ trying to ruin the end of the book for readers. But as the seventh and final volume in the Potter saga, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, hits the stands on July 21, the truth shall out!
The book’s end, interestingly, has fuelled speculations prompting the publishers to go into overdrive in order to prevent leakages. Right from the manuscript to the printing and distribution, only a handful of people know exactly what is happening. While this may be an amazing feat to pull off, especially since the book is slated for a simultaneous world-wide release, the distributors here, Penguin Group India, are taking no chances.
They are fighting a two-pronged battle, one that deals with security of the book till it falls into the hands of the book-sellers after which they can heave a sigh of relief and the other of piracy.
Penguin India and Bloomsbury have announced stringent measures to prevent the sale and distribution of pirated copies of the ‘Deathly Hallows’. With advance bookings of 240,000 copies for India alone (and the figure is expected to go up right through the week), a legal team has been commissioned to prevent copies of the new book being pirated on publication. Vigilance cells around the country and a 24-hour helpline number are some of the measures planned.
According to Akash Chittranshi, head ACA-law, the legal firm, “The success of this book is a foregone conclusion, which means that ‘pirates’ are waiting to cash in on its success.”
To work in tandem with the legal team, services of an investigating team IP-Boutique have also been retained to keep a watch on known offenders and locations.
Book piracy in India results in publishers losing large sums of money on books, and with Harry Potter having virtually pushed the book industry to the top of the heap, the drive is a move towards eradicating the malaise in India ultimately, says Penguin.
As for the security arrangements, Hemali Sodhi head, marketing and promotions for Penguin, says the security arrangements are “intricate and major”, but they would not disclose details.
However sources within the book industry say that ‘Deathly Hallows’ will be sent to Penguin under boxes that carry pseudonyms, “something vague and unrelated”.
The books will then be sent out to local distributors like India Book House in Chandigarh, under embargo and accompanied by security. This means that even local distributors are not allowed to peek into the copies until the magical hour of midnight GMT (UK Summer Time) when the book is released.
The anti-piracy hotlines at Penguin India are:
Mobile: 09818010044, landline: 011-26499936.
Source: Tribune News Service