Many major Bristish writers including best-selling authors J.K. Rowling and Philip Pullman are voicing their opinions against Google Books, a product of Google's which allows unlimited viewing available for books that are out of copyright or no longer commercially available. Though Google is currently working to expand this into an online book store.
Cardoc King, the agent for Pullman who is dealing with this calls the offer “clearly for the benefit of Google,” while JK Rowling’s legal representative said Google’s settlement attempts to “change US and international copyright rules.”
Other authors considering a boycott of Google Books include Ursula K. Le Guin, Helen Oyeyemi, and Nick Harkaway.
It has been confirmed by Mugglenet, through his agent, that Alexandre Desplat will be composing the first part of Deathly Hallows.
Desplat has composed such recent films as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Julie & Julia, The Golden Compass, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
No word yet on who will compose Deathly Hallows, Part 2. What do you think of Desplat getting the reigns for Part 1?
Today fans will be able to bring the magic of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince into their homes today with the DVD which is now on sale across the United States and Canada.
The DVD inludes many bonus features such as: Interviews with the cast An 11 min clip looking at the Wizarding World Theme Park The full documentary on the Life of JKR as she wrote the final book And what people are most looking forward to, the first teaser trailer for Deathly Hallows part 1 which can be viewed below.
A visitor to our friends at Leaky reported the verified Twitter account and they confirmed with Jo's reps that it's legitimate.
Jo created the account to put an end to all the fake ones. She also wrote this first (and only) message:
I am told that people have been twittering on my behalf, so I
thought a brief visit was in order just to prevent any more confusion!
However, I should flag up now that although I could twitter endlessly,
I’m afraid you won’t be hearing from me very often, as pen and paper is
my priority at the moment
Pen and paper are Jo's priorities at the moment? Hmmmm?!
Warner Brothers sent out an e-mail this evening to those subscribed to
the Official Harry Potter Newsletter. In it, they promote a new Harry Potter DVD website that keeps track of all the Potter DVDs - including the Ulimate Editions.
Addressing the press last night after winning an Emmy for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the HBO miniseries Into the Storm, actor Brendan Gleeson noted that he has just finished filming in his role as Mad-Eye Moody for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.
"I waved goodbye to him a week and a half ago. It was great fun, playing Mad-Eye was a hoot."
It was announced earlier today by Warner Home Video that the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
DVD will be released in the United States on December 8th. There will
be a 1-disc DVD, 2-disc DVD, and 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo release.
You can take a closer look at the DVD cover art below:
We know the DVD will include an 11 minute insider look at the new
Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, the full documentary of J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life, as well as other great behind-the-scenes segments you can read about here.
