Mark Hamblett via Law.com; Federal Judge Mulls Copyright Status for Salinger's Holden Caulfield:
"Marcia B. Paul of Davis Wright Tremaine, representing Salinger, won the first part of the hearing by convincing [Judge Deborah] Batts, who said she had read both books, that there was a "substantial similarity" between the two works.
Paul and the attorney for Colting and his publisher, Edward H. Rosenthal of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, disagreed over the degree of copyright protection that can be afforded the characters within a book.
Rosenthal said there is case law protecting ubiquitous animated figures such as Superman, but that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and other courts have not extended the law's protection to purely literary or "words on a page" characters.
Paul responded, "That's not the law. A sufficiently delineated character should be protected."...
"It is hard to separate Holden Caulfield from the book," [Judge Deborah Batts] said. "It would seem that Holden Caulfield is copyrightable."
The judge then turned to the question of whether "60 Years Later" is nonetheless protected by the fair use doctrine.
Here, the burden shifted to Rosenthal, who noted that the point of copyright protection is to "promote the progress of science and the arts ..."
"But not stealing," Batts interjected...
The argument that "60 Years Later" was a work of literary criticism was not helped by the fact that Colting, known as "John Doe" in the pleadings, had called the book "a sequel" before he had time to consult with lawyers for his U.S. publisher, SCB Distributors...
Paul also said fair use protection presumes good faith and fair dealing."
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431554331
Showing posts with label copyrightability of fictional character. Show all posts
Showing posts with label copyrightability of fictional character. Show all posts
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
US publication of book delayed in Salinger dispute; Associated Press, 6/17/09
Larry Neumeister via Associated Press; US publication of book delayed in Salinger dispute:
"U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts temporarily blocked publication of the book, "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye," until she rules whether the book transforms Salinger's original creation enough that it qualifies to be published as a "fair use" of a copyrighted work.
A ruling was anticipated in the next 10 days. The book was scheduled for U.S. release on Sept. 15 but the court dispute was likely to delay that...
She said she read both novels and agreed with Salinger that the new book was substantially similar to his own, published in 1951. Although there was little legal precedent to find that a character in a book with no drawings or photographs of him could be copyrighted, Batts said she believed Caufield could be.
"It's a portrait by words," she said. "It is difficult in fact to separate Holden Caulfield from the book
The hearing featured spirited arguments over whether Salinger's most famous literary character, Holden Caufield, is himself entitled to copyright protection and whether stopping publication of what some publicity materials referred to as a sequel would amount to a book ban.
[Fredrik] Colting, who lives near Gothenburg, Sweden, said in a court document that he did not "slavishly copy" Salinger when he wrote "60 Years Later," his first novel, under the pseudonym J.D. California.
"I am not a pirate," he wrote. He said he wrote the book as a critical exploration of the relationship between Salinger and his famous fictional character.
He said he used his book to transform "the precocious and authentic Holden into a 76-year-old man fraught with indecision and insecurity." The character, identified as "Mr. C," escapes from a retirement home and experiences similar to those Caulfield went through decades earlier.
He said his dedication of the book to Salinger was ironic.
"While I greatly admire Salinger as a writer, he is not the God-Author the public has created," Colting wrote. He also said it was a mistake that early copies of the book released in Great Britain included words promoting it as a sequel to Salinger's book.
During arguments Wednesday, Salinger lawyer Marcia Beth Paul called Colting's book "pure commercialism." She said 94 percent of the book was told in Caufield's voice and only 6 percent in Salinger's voice.
"This is a book about Holden Caulfield," Paul said. "It's a sequel, plain and simple."
She said it was wrong of the defendants to claim that blocking publication of the book because it infringes copyrights would be the same as banning a book. Salinger's book has frequently turned up on book ban lists.
"Make no mistake about it," Rosenthal charged in response. "This is banning the book."
He added: "To enjoin the book before a full exploration of the book is a prior restraint that raises very serious First Amendment questions.""
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jBf9ALIEy3wQYsMPHAEVM370POkgD98SMA901
"U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts temporarily blocked publication of the book, "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye," until she rules whether the book transforms Salinger's original creation enough that it qualifies to be published as a "fair use" of a copyrighted work.
A ruling was anticipated in the next 10 days. The book was scheduled for U.S. release on Sept. 15 but the court dispute was likely to delay that...
She said she read both novels and agreed with Salinger that the new book was substantially similar to his own, published in 1951. Although there was little legal precedent to find that a character in a book with no drawings or photographs of him could be copyrighted, Batts said she believed Caufield could be.
"It's a portrait by words," she said. "It is difficult in fact to separate Holden Caulfield from the book
The hearing featured spirited arguments over whether Salinger's most famous literary character, Holden Caufield, is himself entitled to copyright protection and whether stopping publication of what some publicity materials referred to as a sequel would amount to a book ban.
[Fredrik] Colting, who lives near Gothenburg, Sweden, said in a court document that he did not "slavishly copy" Salinger when he wrote "60 Years Later," his first novel, under the pseudonym J.D. California.
"I am not a pirate," he wrote. He said he wrote the book as a critical exploration of the relationship between Salinger and his famous fictional character.
He said he used his book to transform "the precocious and authentic Holden into a 76-year-old man fraught with indecision and insecurity." The character, identified as "Mr. C," escapes from a retirement home and experiences similar to those Caulfield went through decades earlier.
He said his dedication of the book to Salinger was ironic.
"While I greatly admire Salinger as a writer, he is not the God-Author the public has created," Colting wrote. He also said it was a mistake that early copies of the book released in Great Britain included words promoting it as a sequel to Salinger's book.
During arguments Wednesday, Salinger lawyer Marcia Beth Paul called Colting's book "pure commercialism." She said 94 percent of the book was told in Caufield's voice and only 6 percent in Salinger's voice.
"This is a book about Holden Caulfield," Paul said. "It's a sequel, plain and simple."
She said it was wrong of the defendants to claim that blocking publication of the book because it infringes copyrights would be the same as banning a book. Salinger's book has frequently turned up on book ban lists.
"Make no mistake about it," Rosenthal charged in response. "This is banning the book."
He added: "To enjoin the book before a full exploration of the book is a prior restraint that raises very serious First Amendment questions.""
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jBf9ALIEy3wQYsMPHAEVM370POkgD98SMA901
Salinger faces curse of creating a classic; Toronto Star, 6/14/09
Toronto Star; Salinger faces curse of creating a classic:
"The book, not yet published but listed for sale on Amazon.co.uk, follows Mr. C., a curmudgeonly 76-year-old who wanders away from his retirement home to revisit some of the Manhattan sites and people originally encountered by Caulfield in Salinger's seminal work. Although Colting and his company say they intended no infringement of Salinger's artistic rights – the novel is dedicated to him – the book has been described as a sequel, which is precisely where the ailing author's complaint draws its strength. Unlike a parody, which is considered fair use of an original work, a sequel is held to be within the original creator's domain. It may well be due to this distinction, and the issue of whether a character like Holden is copyrightable, that Salinger will win out."
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/650210
"The book, not yet published but listed for sale on Amazon.co.uk, follows Mr. C., a curmudgeonly 76-year-old who wanders away from his retirement home to revisit some of the Manhattan sites and people originally encountered by Caulfield in Salinger's seminal work. Although Colting and his company say they intended no infringement of Salinger's artistic rights – the novel is dedicated to him – the book has been described as a sequel, which is precisely where the ailing author's complaint draws its strength. Unlike a parody, which is considered fair use of an original work, a sequel is held to be within the original creator's domain. It may well be due to this distinction, and the issue of whether a character like Holden is copyrightable, that Salinger will win out."
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/650210
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