IANS

London, Oct 13: The organizers of a Kolkata Durga puja with the Harry Potter series as its theme should have sought the permission of right-holders Warner Brothers before building their Hogwarts Castle pandal, the global entertainment giant said.

"Sadly, the organizers of this large-scale commercially-sponsored event did not approach us for permission to go ahead," Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., which controls the rights to the Potter series in India, said in a statement issued in London on Thursday.

"This event falls outside the guidelines set up by Warner Brothers, J K Rowling and her publishers to help charitable and not-for-profit organizations to run small-scale themed events that protect fans and allow everyone to enjoy Harry Potter books, films and events in the spirit in which they were created," the company added.

An Indian court Friday refused to restrain Kolkata's Mondal Decorators from using idols modelled on characters from author J K Rowling's 'Harry Potter' series to decorate the puja pandal.

Organizers of the puja at Salt Lake in Kolkata say the Harry Potter right-holders are being mean-minded by failing to appreciate the festive and religious nature of the construction.

"We created the structure to entertain people," puja committee joint secretary Subabrata Bhattacharjee was quoted saying in the Daily Telegraph on Friday.

"Many organizers replicate many other things - we have also modelled the Titanic - but nothing of this sort has ever happened before," he added.

The newspaper, Britain's highest-selling broadsheet, ran the story alongside a large photograph of the puja pandal which resembles the Hogwarts Castle.