A Harry Potter-themed holiday ball set to take place in Toronto on Dec. 8 has been cancelled after its organizers ran into legal troubles with Warner Bros.
“We have been dealing with a legal issue with Warner Brothers regarding this event,” the organizers said in a Nov. 30 letter posted to social media and their website. “We were told by the legal team of Warner Brothers that they have been shutting down events recently but they are willing to help us host this events (sic) without infringing on their copyright laws.”
The event -- which was billed the “Yule Ball & Yule Time Magic Market” after a fictional Hogwarts Christmas Day celebration -- has now been rescheduled for Jan. 19 as a “Wizards Ball.” The original event, which was to take place at Toronto’s Exhibition Place, was advertised as including a “Magical Feast, Wand Class, Yule Time Wizard Market, Costume Contest, Photo Booth, DJ and Dancing.”
Warner Bros. is the production company and distributor behind the Harry Potter film series and its spinoffs, which are based on fantasy novels by British author J.K. Rowling.
Warner Bros. has also apparently demanded that Muggles and Magic, the Toronto-based company that was organizing the event, change its name, as “muggles” refers to the non-magical humans of the Harry Potter universe.
According to the organizing company, if they want to host future events, they will also have to make changes to their “website, emails, and materials with the name Yule Ball or any characters in the Harry Potter films.”
Those not wanting to attend the new event -- which will feature an appearance from Bulgarian actor Stanislav Ianevski, who played the character Viktor Krum in the 2005 film “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” -- are being promised full refunds. Tickets for the original event started at nearly $70.
“In retrospect, we should have looked at the legal ramifications of hosting this event,” Muggles and Magic said in a subsequent social media post. “We've learned an expensive lesson but we are grateful to Warner Brothers for pointing us in the right direction and that we can host future events.”
