Jul 18, 2007, 13:48 GMT
London - Despite extreme security measures an alleged copy of the last Harry Potter volume has appeared on the internet only days before it was due to be released, reports said Wednesday.
Despite extreme security measures an alleged copy of the last Harry Potter volume has appeared on the internet only days before it was due to be released, reports said Wednesday.
'Our lawyers are dealing with the issue,' spokeswoman for British Potter publisher Bloomsbury, Lucy Holden, said.
However, she declined to comment whether it was a copy of the real book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 'We neither confirm nor deny this,' she said.
Images of an open book - allegedly a US copy of the seventh Potter novel - held by a man, are circulating on internet file-sharing sites.
A total of 759 easily legible pages of the book, which have probably been scanned in, are being shown.
The end is clearly visible.
The copy has already been downloaded 5,000 times.
'Many people try really clever things. They retell the book or want to put a copy on the internet to say they know the content. But the only one who knows it is author Joanne K Rowling,' Holden said.
Readers would not let them spoil their fun. They would wait for the book's release, she said.
The English version of the last Harry Potter book is due to go on sale worldwide on Saturday just after midnight British time (2301 GMT).
Bloomsbury had announced harsh penalties for retailers who broke the embargo.
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