Catcher in the Rye case....

[roh_wyn]

Some thoughts on the recent copyright infringement case involving Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.

(By way of standard disclaimer, I'm a novice with respect to copyright law).

Comments

[roh_wyn]

Oh, absolutely. I'm just curious how seriously the court will take the author's arguments that his work is intended as literary criticism of Catcher in the Rye. I suspect not very seriously at all, lol.

[pseudohistorian]

Thanks for linking this...

When I read Julie Hilden's analysis of the case at FindLaw, I was surprised to find her leaning towards Colting, especially given her previous conclusions about fanfic (which she links back to in that article).

IANAL, but my own take on the matter is much closer to yours.

[roh_wyn]

Very interesting. Thanks for the link. Hilden seems to be siding with Colting more because she sees that his work has little to no impact on the market value of Salinger's original novel (and I agree with her there). Where we part ways is in her implication that the 2d Cir might find Colting's work a legitimate parody on appeal (under the standards suggested in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose, for example). This is the part I'm really curious about.

As concerns her views on fanfiction, I'm actually inclined to agree with her, even if I'm a reader/writer of fanfiction. I think removing any possibility of royalties payments to the original authors is (a) counter-productive and (b) contrary to the intention of the constitutional clause that spawned the Copyright Act. Everyone else may have a different opinion, of course. :)

Re: My $0.02

[roh_wyn]

If I rememeber correctly, The Wind Done Gone was characterized as a critical revisiting specifically because its premise turned the central premise of the source material upside down. It was as close to transformative as I've ever seen in this context