Palin Beats Gawker in Book Suit

federal judge on Saturday ordered the website Gawker to pull down unauthorized excerpts from Sarah Palin's forthcoming book, "America By Heart."

Sarah Palin wins Round 1 against Gawker:

A federal judge on Saturday ordered the website Gawker to pull down unauthorized excerpts from Sarah Palin’s forthcoming book, “America By Heart,” until a hearing scheduled for Nov. 30.

On Saturday evening, the link was broken to Gawker’s scoop, “Sarah Palin’s New Book: Leaked Excerpts,” which included 14 images of partial pages from the book, scheduled for publication Tuesday.

A two-page order signed Saturday by U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Griesa, who sits in Manhattan, says: “Gawker is temporarily retrained and enjoined from continuing to distribute, publish or otherwise transmit pages” of the book.

This one seems like a no-brainer.  The material is clearly copyrighted by Palin.  Publishing large sections of it goes beyond Fair Use and potentially damages Palin’s financial interests in said copyright.  And the materials in question are stolen.

FILED UNDER: Law and the Courts, Media, , , , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. anjin-san says:

    Stealing copyrighted material for unauthorized use is a no-no. This is very clear cut.

  2. TG Chicago says:

    Is that really the cover of Palin’s book? That’s the worst photo I’ve ever seen of her.