Judge Calabresi Describes Banned Salinger 'Sequel' as 'Rather Dismal'
The New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hasn’t yet ruled on the merits of a federal court’s ban on the publication of an unauthorized “sequel” to J.D. Salinger’s famous novel The Catcher in the Rye. But the verdict is in from at least one jurist on the new novel’s literary merits.
During oral argument today, Judge Guido Calabresi described Fredrik Colting’s 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye as “rather dismal,” reports the Associated Press.
However, Calabresi also wondered whether the trial judge had heard enough evidence concerning Colting’s constitutional arguments in the First Amendment case before banning the book.
A key issue in the ongoing copyright infringement case is whether Colting’s novel is too derivative or transformed ideas from Salinger’s book into something uniquely his own and hence falls within the category of fair use.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “J.D. Salinger Sues Over Sequel, ‘a Rip-off, Pure and Simple’”
ABAJournal.com: “‘Catcher’ Ruling Will Discourage Other Would-Be Parodies, Lawyer Says”
