J.K. Rowling Issues ‘John Doe’ Injunction

As a result of last Friday’s incident in which two men attempted to sell a stolen copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to a reporter from the Sun, J.K. Rowling has just issued a “John Doe” injunction. A law firm representative explains:

This far-reaching injunction applies to anyone who has, or has had, possession of all or part of the book without the consent of Bloomsbury Publishing and JK Rowling. This type of injunction is known as a John Doe order because those to whom it applies are not named. It doesn’t just apply to the two named people who were attempting to sell copies of the book. It catches anyone who is in unauthorised possession of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” This injunction is much wider in scope than the John Doe order obtained for the previous “Harry Potter” book.