Court Overturns J.D. Salinger Book Ban

April 30, 2010

In a ground-breaking decision that altered US copyright law, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today overturned a lower court ruling that had barred publication of 60 Years Later -- Coming Through the Rye. The case will now return to Judge Deborah A. Batts of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Judge Batts, who had barred the book on July 1, 2009, must now apply a new legal standard to the case.

Attorneys for the author, Fredrik Colting, and his US distributor, SCB Distributors Inc., had argued that publication of 60 Years Later -- a thoughtful literary critique on The Catcher in the Rye and J.D. Salinger - would not harm J.D. Salinger's copyright in Catcher. But the lower court did not require Mr. Salinger to show that he would be irreparably harmed if the book is published. Under the appeals court decision today, the lower court must now require Mr. Salinger's representatives to prove actual harm to his copyright in Catcher before a book ban can issue. The lower court also must consider the interests of the public in having the book published.

"We are pleased that the injunction barring the publication of 60 Years Later has been vacated," said Edward H. Rosenthal of Frankfurt Kurnit. "We are confident that when the district court applies the new analysis required by the appeals court, the book will not be enjoined."

For a copy of the decision, visit http://www.fkks.com/jdsalinger.asp.

SOURCE Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz