The grandson of James Joyce, Stephen James Joyce, has used his control of the copyrights to Joyce’s work to impede scholarly research by threatening to withhold consent to any academic who would veer into investigation of the family history. He spent a hundred thousand dollars of the estate’s money to halt publication of a new edition of “Ulysses”; has “blocked or discouraged” a number of readings; and threatened to sue the National Library of Ireland when it sought to display its copies of Joyce’s manuscripts. In revenge for Michael Groden’s favorable blurb of a scholar Stephen Joyce disliked, Joyce quoted a price of a million and a half dollars for Groden’s right to quote “Ulysses” in the multimedia work he spent seven years preparing. D.T. Max in the June 19 New Yorker explores the younger Joyce’s battles, and also mentions other litigious literary estates.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
“Lawsuit Heaven — NYC’s Hell”
I’ve got an op-ed in today’s New York Post about the rising tide of liability lawsuits against New York City and its taxpayers (cross-posted from Point of Law). For more on how Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s office disposes of reform legislation in Albany, see Henry Stern’s NYCivic, Jun. 14.
Around the blogs
“Robert Musil” marvels at the apparent untouchability of a key witness in the Anthony Pellicano wiretap case (Jun. 13) . At Volokh Conspiracy, Jonathan Adler skeptically examines a tendentious piece in Scientific American which claims that the Supreme Court’s pending decisions on two wetlands cases, Rapanos and Carabell, imperil the survival of the Florida Everglades (Jun. 13). The trial of journalist Oriana Fallaci, on charges of “insulting Islam” (see Jun. 11, 2005), has begun in an Italian courtroom; among the many giving it coverage are Dave Zincavage, Michelle Malkin and Howard M. Friedman. And Tyler Cowen expounds his opinions on the “net neutrality” issue here.
KFC sued over fattening menu
“KFC may be finger-lickin’ good, but a consumer group is suing the chain over the kind of fat used to fry the food. Dr. Arthur Hoyte, a retired physician from Rockville, Md., and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, want a judge to order Kentucky Fried Chicken to use other types of cooking oils or make sure customers know about trans fat content immediately before they make a purchase.” (“Colonel Sanders Under Attack for Trans Fat Content”, AP/WTOP, Jun. 13). For more on food suits, see our Eat, Drink and Be Merry page; for more on the nanny-maniac CSPI and its coercive designs on our menu choices, see Jan. 20 and Feb. 7, 2006; Feb. 25, 2005; and Sept. 19, 2003.
More: Peter Lattman notes (Jun. 14) that “According to the story on the suit in today’s New York Times, fast-food chains began using trans fats in the 1980s after nutrition groups demanded that the chains stop frying in beef tallow and palm oils. Nowadays, trans fats are considered more harmful than saturated fat.” Plus Jonathan Adler and commenters, Jacob Sullum.
In Finland…
…they do things very differently than we do in the U.S. when it comes to civil litigation. (But then every other country does things very differently than we do.) Ilkka Kokkarinen (Sixteen Volts) says kind things about The Excuse Factory — thanks (Jun. 9).
“New Year’s Eve party from Hell”
On TuckerMax.com, anonymous participants used harsh language in deriding a holiday party thrown by a Philadelphia-based publicity firm. Its operator sued for defamation, and U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell ruled that under federal law a blogger cannot be held legally liable as the “publisher” of anonymous comments. And no, this does not mean that participants in our comments section should from now on assume that anything goes. (Shannon P. Duffy, “Judge: Bloggers Entitled to Immunity Under Communications Act”, Legal Intelligencer, Jun. 2).
Lott v. Levitt V
Steven Levitt and his publisher Harper Collins filed straightforward motions to dismiss Count 1 and Count 2 of Lott’s complaint, pdf files of which are available on Overlawyered. (Please don’t deep-link.) Elsewhere, Jon Weiner and John Lott battle in the LA Times op-ed pages.
Update: Jim Lindgren analyzes the case.
Canada’s hate speech law
Selective enforcement is one of the many problems with a law that can reach out to ensnare David Ahenakew, an elderly aboriginal leader in Saskatchewan, but seems to pass right over preachers of violent jihad. “But hate laws aren’t really about hate. They’re about abusing and stretching the criminal code to criminalize political dissidents.” (Ezra Levant, “Abolish foolish law”, Calgary Sun/Canoe, Jun. 12).
English-only cheesesteak ordering? Tell it to the judge
“An English-only ordering policy at one of Philadelphia’s most famous cheesesteak joints has prompted a city agency to pursue a discrimination complaint. The city’s Commission on Human Relations plans to file the complaint Monday, alleging the policy at Geno’s Steaks discourages customers of certain backgrounds from eating there, said Rachel Lawton, acting executive director.” Owner Joseph Vento, who posted the now-famous signs telling customers, “This is America: When Ordering ‘Please Speak English'”, says “he has no plans to budge. ‘I would say they would have to handcuff me and take me out because I’m not taking it down.'” (Patrick Walters, “City agency: Cheesesteak shop’s English-only policy discriminates”, AP/PennLive, Jun. 12; BizzyBlog; Bainbridge, Jun. 10). P.S. At XRLQ, commenter “Doc Rampage” writes, “If this suit goes forward, I’m going to sue Starbucks for making me say ‘Venti’ instead of ‘large.'” Update Feb. 18, 2007: city commission finds probable cause for discrimination complaint.
Ho Lee smoke
“The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, ABC News, and the Associated Press pooled $750,000 last Friday to buy their way out of a civil suit in which they weren’t even defendants….the money isn’t the issue. A greater danger is that the Wen Ho Lee settlement may signal to plaintiffs’ attorneys that newsrooms are becoming soft touches when it comes to subpoena defenses.” (Jack Shafer, “Wen Ho Ho Ho Lee Gets Last Laugh”, Slate, Jun. 7). Another view: Michael Kinsley, “Two Bad Cases for Anonymity”, Washington Post, Jun. 11.