Legal

US Southern District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin dismissed a lawsuit brought the estate of Adrian Jacobs, author of the 1987 book Willy the Wizard, alleging that his copyright was infringed by HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE. Judge Scheindlin concluded that “the contrast between the total concept and feel of the works is so stark that any serious comparison of the two strains credulity.”  A similar, earlier lawsuit in the UK against Bloomsbury and JK Rowling was allowed to go forward last October if the estate paid money as security for the costs (since in the UK, the loser pays). […]

For a long time at least some publishers have licensed photographs for books under terms that cover a specified maximum number of copies only, without rigorously revisiting those limits for compliance later on. As Photo District News reports, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s textbook division has been the focus of “30 copyright infringement claims over the past five years in federal courts” from photographers and others. At least three of the claims have been thrown out of court based on a finding of improper copyright registration, and there have been settlements in “about 20″ of those cases so far.” They write: “In […]

HarperCollins announced Tuesday night that they have “reached an agreement with Gawker resolving the lawsuit” filed over the web site’s pre-publication posting of 21 pages from Sarah Palin’s just-released book AMERICA BY HEART. The publisher says “Gawker has agreed to keep the posted material off its web site and not to post the material again in the future.” Harper indicates that Judge Thomas Griesa, who issued the temporary restraining order on Saturday, said in an opinion released Monday that “the purpose of the copyright law is to prevent the kind of copying that has taken place here.” They say he […]

Federal District Court Judge Thomas Griesa convened a hearing Saturday afternoon on HarperCollins’ filing against Gawker. The judge issued a temporary restraining order under which Gawker is “restrained and enjoined from continuing to distribute, publish or otherwise transmit pages” of Sarah Palin’s forthcoming book. A hearing has been set for November 30. In compliance with the order, Gawker is no longer displaying the 21 pages of the book that they had posted on their site. Since Palin’s book will be published on Tuesday, the real question now is whether Gawker will be assessed damages for copyright infringement. In an earlier […]

As we suggested was in the works in this morning’s Publishers Lunch, HarperCollins filed suit against Gawker late Friday in the US District Court in Manhattan, claiming that the web site’s publication of images of 21 pages from Sarah Palin’s new 304-page book ahead of its release is copyright infringement. Harper asked to have the pages removed and is seeking financial damages, and also sought the return of the copy of the book itself, the AP writes.. Gawker did not respond to a request for comment from the wire service, which says that the site “refused to take down [the […]