Harry Potter (film series) and darker." This transpired with the succeeding three directors who would work on the series in the following years, with the films beginning to deal with issues such as death, betrayal, prejudice, and political corruption as the series developed narratively and thematically. After Chris Columbus had finished working on "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", he was hired to direct the second film, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". The production started within a week after the release of the first film. Columbus was set to direct all entries in the series, but he did not want to return
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series Since first coming to wide notice in the late 1990s, the "Harry Potter" book series by J. K. Rowling has engendered a number of legal disputes. Rowling, her various publishers and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the "Harry Potter" films, have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyrights, and also have fielded accusations of copyright theft themselves. The worldwide popularity of the "Harry Potter" series has led to the appearance of a number of locally produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works, sparking efforts to ban or contain them.