Fenerbahce players celebrate by imitating Harry Potter and are sued for copyright infringement by Warner Bros.

November 20th: Fenerbahce striker Kerem Aktyricoglu made a Harry Potter-style celebration after scoring a goal. Now Warner Bros. has taken legal action against the player.

Warner Bros. reminded in its application that many names such as "Harry Potter", "Hogwarts" and "Gryffindor" have been registered with the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. The company emphasized that these trademarks are not limited to books and movies, but are trademarks that are recognized globally and have high commercial value.

In the application, trademark registration information was submitted to the court in tabular form, noting that the player explicitly referenced the trademarks in his social media posts.

Documents submitted to the court pointed out that the player used the iconic music "Hedwig Theme" from the "Harry Potter" film series in his social media posts. In the shared video, animated images similar to Harry Potter characters, Hogwarts emblems, and sets and costumes reminiscent of scenes from the movie can also be seen. Warner Bros. contends that all of these elements were used without any permission, which constitutes both copyright and trademark infringement.

Warner Bros. stated that all these elements infringe upon the property and personal rights of the author of the work under the Intellectual and Industrial Property Law, and in addition constitute unfair competition under the Turkish Commercial Code.

According to Turkish media Sabah, Warner Bros. requested the court to appoint expert experts to review the player’s relevant videos on Instagram and posts on Twitter.

The company requested that this review confirm the use of copyrighted music, characters, logos and other images belonging to the Harry Potter universe. Furthermore, the application states that this review should be conducted without notifying the player.