J.D. Salinger Literary Trust's lawyers engage in international copyright lawsuit

The estate of late author J.D. Salinger, known primarily for his coming of age novel The Catcher in the Rye, is currently in a legal battle with the Devault-Graves Agency, a Memphis-based publisher. The lawsuit is centered around the rights to the book J.D. Salinger: Three Early Stories, which the Devault-Graves Agency has been attempting to print. While the Salinger Literary Trust acknowledges that the rights to the stories contained in the book entered the public domain decades ago, they claim the rights to the stories are not necessarily in the public domain overseas, and that, as such, Devault-Graves cannot sell the collection globally. Lawyers from Salinger's estate have described Devault-Graves' grasp of international copyright law as "critically flawed."

The Devault-Graves Agency's lawsuit seeks damages as well as a court-sanctioned declaration that the Literary Trust does not hold rights to the stories overseas, and that the Agency can publish the collection internationally. The Agency's legal defense falls around a broad interpretation of Article 7 of the Berne Convention, which states that copyright protection cannot exceed the term mandated in a work's country of origin. 

Salinger's attorneys argue that, since the interpretation of the Berne Convention varies from country to country, that the "sweeping, one-size-fits-all declaration" used by Devault-Graves' attorneys is inherently flawed.

If you believe that your work is being used and profited from without your permission, it's important to act sooner, rather than later. If you want to file a DMCA takedown or are simply wondering what your best course of action should be to protect your work, you should get in touch with a skilled business attorney as quickly as possible.

Categorised in: Entertainment Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Business Law

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