Federal Judge Dismisses Donald Trump’s Copyright Lawsuit Against Bob Woodward

A federal judge dismissed Donald Trump’s copyright lawsuit against Bob Woodward, publisher Simon & Schuster, and Paramount Global Saturday. Trump filed the suit in 2023 over Woodward’s use of recordings of interviews with the president for his book “Rage” as well as his audiobook “The Trump Tapes.”

Trump claimed he had copyright interest in the recordings. U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe ruled Trump’s claim does not “plausibly allege” he should be named a co-author of “The Trump Tapes.”

“The Supreme Court has instructed, under the Copyright Act, ‘the author is the party who actually creates the work, that is, the person who translates an idea into a fixed, tangible expression entitled to copyright protection,'” Gardephe explained.

In his original filing Trump referred to Feb. 28, 2023 copyright registration in which he claimed to be a joint author with Woodward. Gardephe also shot that down and noted that “while copyright registration may constitute prema facie evidence of ownership, where there are conflicting and adverse copyright registrations, the Copyright Office does not resolve the competing claims, and courts are called upon to make ‘an independent determination of copyright ownership.”

Trump has the option to amend his complaint before August 18, though the judge added it is “unlikely” he will be able to arrive at a different result.

More to come…

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