Quidditch leagues, the favorite sport of wizards and witches in the universe created by JK Rowling, have decided to take the plunge and step away a little from the controversial writer and her work. At the end of last year, the major organizations of the fictional sport, adapted to the Muggle world as a mix between rugby and dodgeball with brooms, expressed their intention to change the name of the game to dissociate themselves from Rowling and the controversial transphobic statements of she. The new term they have chosen to replace Quidditch is Quadball.
Major League Quidditch and US Quidditch, now renamed Major League Quadball and US Quadball, have published a letter to the players explaining that the choice of term is supported by “thousands of survey respondents from around the world, hundreds of volunteer hours, dozens of discussions with lawyers teams and the collaborative effort” of the two organizations, the main ones dedicated to this sport in the United States. They also comment that they see this name change as a chance to continue growing. Quadball is played in more than 40 countries and there are more than 600 teams around the world, Deadline reports. This change will also be supported by the International Quidditch Association, which will also join at the end of Quadball.
At the time, these organizations explained that the Quadball “has developed a reputation as one of the most progressive sports in the world in terms of gender equality and inclusionalso thanks to its maximum gender rule, which states that a team must not have more than four members of the same sex in the team at the same time “and that’s why they want the sport to be known more for its merits and less for having emerged from a saga of books (“Harry Potter”) written by an author who has lately only been controversial for being associated with the trans-current radical feminist of exclusion (TERF).
They don’t want trouble with Warner’s lawyers
But the Quadball had another problem: copyright. Although the sport was born with good intentions and not for profit, as soon as it was “professionalized” and, therefore, could generate economic income, it contrasts with the rights to the term Quidditch, which belong to Warner Bros. Discovery. Changing the name ensures fewer legal clashes with Wizarding World film studio or Rowling herself.
Source: E Cartelera
