8. A Canadian Folk Band Didn't Want To Be Mistaken For A Wizard Rock Band
Everyone remembers that (fairly cringe-worthy) scene in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, the one with the wizard rock band at the Yule Ball singing a song about hairy trolls and hippogriffs. In the film, the band (which is called the Weird Sisters) is portrayed by a host of amazing real-life musicians, including Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, plus Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of Radiohead. In 2005, when Warner Brothers was preparing to make the film adaptation of Goblet Of Fire, a Canadian folk band called the Wyrd Sisters contacted the studio. The band feared that Harry Potter fans would mistake the Wyrd Sisters for the Weird Sisters, and be confused when they showed up and the band wasn't playing songs about bubbling cauldrons and slimy frogs. It's reported that Warner Brothers offered the band fifty-thousand dollars as compensation, but the band decided they'd like a bit more of that sweet, sweet franchise cash, and pursued damages of around forty-million dollars. Unfortunately for the band, the Ontario Court did not take their side, and ordered the payment of one-hundred and forty thousand dollars in court costs. Warner Brothers simply removed the name Weird Sisters and continued to rake in ludicrous profits. Take about looking a gift Hippogriff in the mouth...
