The Carpet Book

The last book in the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," was to be officially released on July 21, 2007. Copies, however, were delivered to some fans four days early. 
One of those fans, Mightygodking, posted the entire book via a series of photos to the internet. Each photo showed each pair of facing pages of the book as it was laid out on a beige red-and-green-flecked looped carpet and held open by somebody’s fingers. One fan described the carpet as "(really ugly industrial)." from Proof That The Carpet Book May Be Real (July 19, 2007) 
This was "The Carpet Book," and it claimed to be a copy of The Deathly Hallows obtained illegitimately. Some of the photos were too blurry to read, but many were quite clear, including the one of the the highly anticipated ending.
The source of the photos was apparently from a copy of the book that had been shipped too early, something Scholastic (the publisher) took legal action for against retailer’s parent company and distributor, for “flagrant violations” of their contracts. one which stated that no one could ship any books before July 20, to ensure that no customer would receive a copy before 12:01 a.m. on July 21.
Scholastic, the United States publisher of the “Harry Potter” series, called numerous Web sites and asked them to take down the material. In one case, the publisher filed for a subpoena against Gaia Online, a social networking and gaming site, ordering the company to remove photos uploaded by a user. Another legal action Scholastic took was to ban Mightygodking's site. Mightygodking was also involved in another online controversy at the time, see Improved Archie. 
==Spoiler Hype==
The excitement around the last book was intense. Even Wal-Mart wrote some fanfiction:
==Fan Reaction==
When the New York Times announced that it was a genuine leak, the resulting backlash was predictably dramatic.
Fans who chose to risk being spoiled by the photos were divided on whether or not the book was genuine. Fan response split into those who were outraged over the act of the leak, and those who were disappointed in the quality of the book.
The moderator of spoil-me-dh.livejournal posted Mightygodking's detailed summary of the book, including page numbers at spoil-me-dh.livejournal.com on July 19, 2007. Fans debated legalities of Mightygodking's posting the photos.
Some fans took issue with the moderator of spoil-me-dh.livejournal posting Mightygodking's summary verbatim, and supposedly without permission.
The mainstream press procured statements from high-profile Harry Potter fan sites such as Fiction Alley and Mugglenet.
===Mainstream Press Called on Fansites===
From CBS Evening News on July 14, 2007:
From the Washington Post on July 19, 2007:
 
===Posting the Summary===
Mightygodking responded with: 
===Is It a Hoax?===
===Dissatisfaction with the Book===
==Meta==
==Further Reading==
* Harry Potter And The Book Seven Spoilers? Less Than One Week Until The Release Of The Final Harry Potter Book And Leaks Are Already Appearing, CBS Evening News (July 14, 2007)
* Spoiler Frenzy Follows Early Mailing of 'Hallows' by Monica Hesse (Washington Post) (July 19, 2007)
* Harry Potter and the Internet pirate by Raju Mudhar, The Toronto Star (July 18, 2007)
==References==
Category:Harry Potter Fandom Occurrences‏‎
Category:2007 Events