Harry Potter might possess the powers to vanquish evil wizards -- but not Chinese pirates.Bootleg English-language copies of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", J.K. Rowling's latest and last novel in her super-selling series, have been appearing on the streets of Shanghai. This is the testimony to local pirates' ability to churn out copies of any in-demand entertainment in the blink of an eye.
In fact the hawker were trying to sell both the book and the DVD copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the newly released film. The softback copy of Rowling's novel, cleanly printed on slightly rough paper, cost RMB 30 (US$ 4) after bargaining while a legitimate copy sells in local bookstores for RMB 210 for a British edition and RMB 218 for the U.S. version. The pirated DVD cost RMB 5 (US$0.70), which is the usual price everybody in Shanghai pays for pirated DVDs.
Most of the buyers were foreigners though as the Chinese people will usually wait for the Chinese version that is due to come out in October.
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