A federal judge recently dealt a blow to Donald Trump by dismissing his copyright lawsuit against Bob Woodward, Simon & Schuster, and Paramount Global. The ruling indicates that Trump’s assertion of co-authorship for the audiobook The Trump Tapes lacks credibility.
District Judge Paul Gardephe made it clear that the ownership issues have to be handled independently, especially given the conflicting copyright registrations already filed. He emphasized that the rightful author is the one who genuinely creates the work.
In his decision, Gardephe stated that Trump’s claims of being a shared author with Woodward were unproven, particularly since Woodward and Simon & Schuster secured their copyright back in February.
According to Gardephe, Trump’s legal argument doesn’t convincingly suggest that he qualifies as a joint author of The Trump Tapes or that he possesses any copyright stake in it. He highlighted that the Supreme Court has ruled under the Copyright Act that the author is the individual who physically creates the content.
Furthermore, he pointed out that although copyright registrations might provide basic evidence of ownership, the Copyright Office refrains from resolving disputes when there are conflicting registrations, which means it’s up to the courts to independently ascertain who truly holds the copyright.
Currently, Trump has the opportunity to revise his complaint. However, Judge Gardephe is skeptical about Trump’s ability to present a legitimate copyright claim, given that Trump maintains he has rights over the content of the recordings even though he did not contribute any questions.
Paramount Global, which was previously the owner of Simon & Schuster, remains one of the defendants in the case, and Gardephe expressed he finds it “unlikely” that Trump will achieve a different outcome.
Laura Mitchell covers U.S. politics & news for content partner Modern Newsstand LLC.
