Monday, May 10, 2004

A case involving the unpublished poems of Dorothy Parker was decided by the Second Circuit on May 7, 2004. Silverstein v. Penguin Putman, Inc. involved a dispute between Stuart Silverstein, an individual who put together a collection of Ms. Parker's unpublished poems, and Penguin Putnam, Inc., which published a book of all of Ms. Parker's poems, including the one's in Silverstein's book. The District Court had enjoined Penguin from selling its book and had granted summary judgment to Silverstein, finding the Penguin had infringed on his copyright and violated the Lanham Act and state law. Penguin appealed. The Second Circuit held that questions of fact existed as to whether Silverstein exercised creativity in selecting the works for his compilation. If he did not, he has no claim for copyright infringement. The Court reversed the grant of summary judgment on that count and remanded it to the District Court. It also found that the issuance of an injunction was an abuse of discretion.

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