Citing a lack of jurisdiction, a Tennessee court has recently sent a copyright lawsuit that was filed against the heirs of J.D. Salinger to New Hampshire. Memphis-based indie publisher the Devault-Graves Agency filed the lawsuit in March 2015 against the Salinger Literary Trust. The lawsuit accuses the Salinger Literary Trust of tortious interference with an attempt by the Devault-Graves Agency to license foreign editions of the book J.D. Salinger: Three Early Stories. The plaintiff had sought both damages and a declaration that the Salinger Trust had no right to the works. Having the case moved to the New Hampshire venue will mean that Devault-Graves is going to have to start over from scratch and will likely face an uphill legal battle. This dispute will likely be ongoing and there will probably be more developments in the future.
See Andrew Albanese, Court Punts Salinger Copyright Case to New Hampshire, Publishers Weekly, October 22, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
