Settlement Reached in Wyrd Sisters Legal Battle Against WB
Legal
Posted by: Edward
March 28, 2010, 02:13 PM
The Toronto Sun is reporting the lawsuit filed by Canadain folk band The Wyrd Sisters against Warner Bros. has been quietly settled. Details of the settlement have not been disclosed, for both parties are "subject to a confidentiality clause that prevents either side from revealing what, if any, money has changed hands." As readers will recall, this settlement concludes a five-year long legal battle originated in mid-2005 when the band filed suit against WB claiming the use of the name "The Weird Sisters," which was never used in the "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" film, harmed their reputation. Following a ruling on the original trademark infringement lawsuit, the band was ordered to pay a judgement of $140,000 to WB for various legal fees.
58 Comments
82 Points
To the above commenters who think that the phrase “Weird Sisters” comes from Shakespeare, you’re mistaken, though not too much so. Shakespeare was one of the earliest writers to use the term in a popular work, but it comes from the triple goddess known as the “Sisters Weird,” which is similar to the Greek “Fates.”
3271 Points
Makes no sense to me… not sure how it would harm their reputation? Wouldn’t it help it? How odd… glad it’s over with.
421 Points
Ironic. Usually it’s WB and co. filing stupid lawsuits due to alleged copyright infringements, that get settled outside court because regular people simply can’t afford justice.
160 Points
I think that they likely entered in to the lawsuit simply to gain publicity for a band which no one had ever heard of, since we are discussing them I think that their aim was achieved.
808 Points
They wanted money from WB and ended up not only not getting a penny but having to pay $140,000!!! How could they sue them in the first place when the name wasn’t even mentioned in the film?
3048 Points
This entire lawsuit was completely idiotic because this name surfaced well before the Goblet of Fire was even published in other media, whose authors did not make an effort to sue Warner Brothers or J.K. Rowling. I hope the Wyrd Sisters are proud for the fifteen minutes of fame they have achieved by indulging their envy for the success of other parties.
1740 Points
Confusing and complicated…………I really have no idea why the Toronto Star is doing this.
9914 Points
Pfft, even if they were the “Weird Sisters” like in HP it wouldn’t matter. I read somewhere that The Weird Sisters is another name for Shakespear’s three witches in Macbeth, so it can be used as anything nowadays; it’s no loger copyright.
45 Points
Wow. That is so stupid.
2062 Points
@redwall_hp- actually, William Shakespeare needs to sue this band, because “The Weird Sisters” are the three witches from “Macbeth”. And seeing as how they were mentioned in the original HP novels, I don’t even think the WB had much to do with it- they were just claiming rights to JKR’s material for the purposes of the film. I’m glad they got this settled, cause the whole thing seems kind of dumb to me.
redwall_hp – While you are correct, the most famous Shakespearean plays are all based on previous works. So technically, the term comes from the source material for Macbeth, but it was popularized by Macbeth. Splitting academic hairs.
As for the settlement – I’m guessing this was about The Wyrd Sisters not talking about it anymore in exchange for not having to pay WB.
3777 Points
what a stupid band
they fail
48 Points
but really, nice try weird sisters…
4151 Points
that’s so lame. it’s lamer than lame.
114 Points
talking about overreacting…
To the above commenters who think that the phrase “Weird Sisters” comes from Shakespeare, you’re mistaken, though not too much so. Shakespeare was one of the earliest writers to use the term in a popular work, but it comes from the triple goddess known as the “Sisters Weird,” which is similar to the Greek “Fates.”