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J.K. Rowling, the author of the popular Harry Potter series of books had filed a lawsuit in India in 2004 against several eBay sellers and eBay itself over unauthorized copies of that appeared on eBay India (formerly known as Baazee).

However, eBay India has strongly refuted the so called ‘false’ claims of J.K. Rowling’s representatives in the media about a purported injunction by the Delhi High Court against eBay India.

On January 24, 2007, Judge A.K. Sikri from the High Court of Delhi signed an order that, depending on how you interpret his language, would make the voluntary action on the part of eBay “absolute till the disposal of the suit.” The next hearing, cross-examinations of the plaintiffs’ witnesses in the case, is scheduled for May 28.

In November 2004, the Delhi High Court denied Rowling’s request for an injuction against eBay and found that eBay had fulfilled all of its legal obligations by removing all the Harry Potter e-books that were put up on the site by sellers.

In fact, for the last two years, the case has been proceeding normally through the Indian legal system and is at the stage of ‘framing the issues’. The new development in January 2007 is that the Delhi High Court affirmed the 2004 injunction against the 4 offending sellers who had been selling ebooks. This has no impact on eBay itself.