NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Book publisher Scholastic Corp. on Wednesday said it was taking immediate legal action against two companies that distributed the latest Harry Potter books to customers before it goes on sale on July 21, and urged those who received the books to keep the packages hidden until the official release.
Scholastic (SCHL) , which distributes the wildly-popular Harry Potter books in the United States, said the number of books shipped early is about one-hundredth of 1% of the total U.S. copies slated to go on sale at 12:01 a.m. on July 21, and is the result of a breach of the on-sale agreement by distributor Levy Home Entertainment, and shipments made by DeepDiscount.com, a customer of that distributor.
The book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," is the seventh and final installment in the series of books by J.K. Rowling about an orphaned boy wizard with magical powers. The release of the book comes just days after the movie version of the fifth book "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" hit theaters. The series has a large following and has been credited with sparking interest in reading among children and young adults.
New books in the series have been released to great fanfare with shoppers -- sometimes in costume -- lining up well before the books go on sale at midnight.
Scholastic said it is "especially grateful" to the other retailers and distributors for keeping the books secure until the release time.
"The fans themselves have made it abundantly clear that they are looking forward to going to the midnight parties, receiving their very own copy of the book and finally getting to read the book they have so anxiously awaited," Scholastic said in a statement.
Scholastic shares were down fractionally at $35.33 in afternoon trading.
Source: CNN Money
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