Family battles for happy ending as love of Narnia sparks legal drama

Published on Saturday 19 July 2008 19:36

IT IS the case of the lion, the website and the corporate lawyers, and now the last battle is looming.

Richard Saville-Smith and his wife Gillian Ferguson thought they had found the ideal birthday present for their son's 11th birthday – a Narnia-based website address.

However, the Edinburgh family was flabbergasted to receive a phone call from one of the world's biggest law firms, demanding that they hand over the domain name.

They refused and are now awaiting the verdict of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which is due to rule on the case tomorrow.

The couple paid 70 to buy the domain name Narnia.mobi from the internet registration company Fasthosts.

It was a surprise for their son Comrie, who is huge fan of CS Lewis's fantasy series. However Baker & MacKenzie, the lawyers representing Lewis's estate, has made a 128-page legal complaint against the family to WIPO in Geneva.

The American-based firm claimed they had been using the domain in "bad faith" to make money, a suggestion which the family has rejected as ridiculous.

The David and Goliath case made headlines around the world and the couple have been flooded with messages of support.

Ferguson, an award-winning poet, said: "We were overwhelmed by offers of free legal help from barristers, legal organisations, firms, charities, lawyers and QCs."

From this the family has enlisted intellectual property expert Alistair Payne, who has presided over 80 WIPO panels, to fight their corner.

A final decision is looming and Comrie's mother says she is confident that justice will prevail against corporate might.

She said: "We have done nothing wrong or illegal. Their case is just so darn silly.

"The first film alone (The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe), grossed $745m.

"A young boy having a magical e-mail address to have fun with his friends seems more in keeping with the spirit of Narnia, established long before its huge commercialisation."