3 Count: Book Night

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: The Catcher in the Rye ‘Sequel’ to be Published

The estate of JD Salinger and Frederik Colting, the author of the unofficial “sequel” to “Catcher in the Rye” have reached an agreement to publish the book, just not in North America. The book, entitled “Coming Through the Rye” was the subject of much controversy and a lawsuit, which resulted in its publication being blocked in the U.S. by Salinger. The book follows “Catcher” protagonist Holden Caulfield, now in a retirement home, escaping and visiting many of his old spots. The two sides have worked out an agreement to publish the book, which Colting originally said was a parody but a court in the U.S. ruled it to be an unlawful derivative work of the original.

2: `Harry Potter’ Copyright Suit Against Scholastic Dismissed by U.S. Judge

Next up today, Scholastic, the U.S. publishers of the “Harry Potter” series of books, have won their lawsuit against the estate of Adrian Jacobs, which had claimed that “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” was an infringement of “The Adventures of Willy the Wizard–No. 1 Livid Land”, which had been published 13 years prior. The suit was dismissed citing no evidence of copyright infringement. The U.S. dismissal, however, has no bearing on the UK case, which is against Potter author JK Rowling and her British publisher, Bloomsbury. That case is scheduled for trial in February 2012.

3: Righthaven Extends Copyright Lawsuit Campaign to Individual Web Posters

Finally today, Righthaven, the Las Vegas-based copyright litigation firm that works on behalf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (among others) has expanded their litigation effort and is now target individuals who post LVRJ content on sites. Previously, Righthaven would simply target the owners of sites, even when the person who posted the work was a message board member or commenter. This represents something of a shift in strategy for Righthaven and it helps them avoid a potential legal showdown with giants like Google.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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