Julie Hilden, writing for FindLaw, offers a unique legal persepctive on J.D. Salinger’s ongoing lawsuit against Fredrik “J.D. California” Colting over his unauthorized Catcher in the Rye sequel, 60 Years Later.

Hilden starts by agreeing with U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts’ assessment that Holden Caulfield is sufficiently developed to be a copyrightable character:

“It seems hard to believe that such an indelible character would not qualify for copyright protection, especially in light of the character’s having such a distinctive and easily recognizable “voice” — thanks to both his unique way of speaking and his trademark phrases. The complaint points out, too, that the Holden Caulfield character has had a life outside “Catcher” itself, appearing in several Salinger short stories and thus further imprinting himself upon readers’ minds.”

One wrench in the works, according to Hilden, may come from the “parody” angle:

“But even if the book is an attack on both character and author, is it also a parody? Importantly, the Supreme Court’s most recent decision on parody, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., makes clear that a parody need not be perfect (or even especially clear) in order to be recognized as such.

“The Court also noted that the nature of parody is to take aim at the original, and even make an “attempt at garroting it” by destroying its market so perhaps being an attack is one of the very indicia of a work’s being a parody.

“The Acuff-Rose decision also may indicate that where reasonable minds can differ, parody should be found. Indeed, in Acuff-Rose itself, Justice Kennedy, concurring, was “not so assured” that the song at issue was even a “legitimate parody” at all yet the Court protected it, and Kennedy chose not to dissent.

“Here, it seems likely that even though Judge Batts did not see a parody, the Second Circuit still might. And, again, the Acuff-Rose decision seems like a clear mandate to err on the side of finding a parody, not on the side of finding copyright protection. Following Justice Kennedy’s lead, appeals judges might well think twice before rejecting outright a parody defense that their colleagues find to be perfectly valid.”

Finally, Hilden concludes the case will likely hinge on “market harm” and, here, Hilden thinks it may be possible for Colting to prevail:

“…Salinger has made clear that he certainly does not ever intend to write a “Catcher” sequel, preferring that readers go back to the original “Catcher” and re-read it instead. Thus, Salinger will not be losing any money that he himself might have gained from a hypothetical “Catcher” sequel that would have competed in the market with Colting’s unauthorized sequel.

“Nor is it remotely likely that Colting’s work would make a dent in the market for “Catcher.” If the novel is a parody, it’s likely less than a stinging one, if it’s completely lost on the well-respected Judge Batts. And “Catcher” is so firmly enshrined in American culture, it simply is not going to be unseated by a book like this. The only outcome that might plausibly happen here is that some teachers and professors may assign both books a phenomenon that would doubtless make Salinger cringe, but that, again, would not affect the market for “Catcher” (and perversely, could even slightly enlarge it).”

Her ultimate conclusion, that the only real action that might be taken against Colting is a boycott, seems to me flaccid and rather disappointing. But it could well be where the law will come down.

From the Metacafe description:

WatchMojo.com sits down with author Nairne Holtz and she gives some suggestions and guidance for aspiring authors and writers:

LiveMojo - Tips for Becoming an Author - Funny bloopers are a click away

PW’s Andrew Richard Albanese offers a roundup of the latest on the Salinger suit, implying along the way that much of the fascination revolves around the prospect of the reclusive author emerging from the shadows to testify.

Tor gets a store.

McCrum brings up an interesting point. After centuries of literary archives consisting of boxes of paper, bound volumes and loose photographs, are we entering an era where an author’s archives will be a flash drive?

Gary Dexter tracks down how Jonathan Swift came up with the title “Gulliver’s Travels”.

Early letters from Edith Wharton to her governess, Anna Bahlmann (which the author had asked be destroyed), to be trotted out this week for auction at Christie’s.

ScrollMotion and LibreDigital partner up to bring a new wave of books, magazines and newspapers to the iPhone.

The L.A. Times’ Marion Winik examines the moral implications of the memoir. Carolyn Kellog weighs in.

Kevin McGill looks at the frustrating and difficult business of university presses.

Reasonably-priced book trailer production gets its moment in the sun at Galleycat.

Today in Literature: On this day in 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that had pronounced Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer obscene.

“It seems to me that the problem with diaries, and the reason that most of them are so boring, is that every day we vacillate between examining our hangnails and speculating on cosmic order.”

-Ann Beattie

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Car nostalgia with teeth makes DRIVING LIKE CRAZY, by P.J. O’Rourke, a big hit with The Dallas Morning News.

The also have good things to say about James Hannaham’s debut novel of sexual identity crisis, GOD SAYS NO.

Laura James takes true-crime back to the mid-1920’s in, THE LOVE PIRATE AND THE BANDIT’S SON.

The Daily Kos endorses a walk though the climate change debate in pictures.  Gavin Schmidt and Joshua Wolfe lay it out in CLIMATE CHANGE: PICTURING THE SCIENCE.

Hilarious…

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins discusses stealing material from other writers, and reads his poem, “Litany”:

R.I.P. FrancEyE: Frances Dean Smith—poet, mother of Bukowski’s only child and “Bearded Witch of Ocean Park”.

Times Online’s Kathy Lette takes Kate Copstick’s bait and fires off an extended essay on the differences between men and women when writing about sex.

Can the story get lost in lush writing?

Former poet laureate Billy Collins says its poets’ fault that people aren’t reading poetry, and estimates that “87% of the poetry in America isn’t worth reading.”

Robert McCrum examines the phenomenon of the “Explain Everything” genre.

The New York Times’ Jennifer Schuessler posits that Holden Caulfield “may be losing his grip on the kids”.

It’s not easy being Kaye Gibbons.

WaPo’s Rob Pegoraro takes the new Kindle DX for a test-drive.

Maddie James, writing for the Examiner, parses the “calls for change” in the Romance Writers of America organization.

Today in Literature: On this day in 1982, Norton and Company published “the only complete edition from the original manuscript” of Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage.

“There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

-W. Somerset Maugham

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Doctor’s Without Borders sent James Maskalyk all over the world, but it was the assignment to Sudan that sparked a book, SIX MONTHS IN SUDAN.  The New York Times was moved by it.

The New York Times was all over the links today, so here’s this weeks features - Paperback Row…

and Inside the List.

Author, Chris E. Needham, gets a mixed review for his intriguingly titled, LEAVING LOVESTIFF ANNIE.  You know you’d have to pause and read the jacket blurb on that one.

Jeff Rivera’s interview with young adult author, Sung J. Wo:

James Campbell looks back at the “strange life of a work with extraordinary power”: William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch.

What do writers do with that sacred “writing time”?

Dalmation Publishing Group shutters its California operations.

What do you get when you hold a short story contest with the theme of murdering literary critics? See for yourself.

The Literary Saloon rounds up the coverage of Kate Copstick’s strange machinations to build the buzz over her recent purchase: The Erotic Review.

The Boston Globe’s Bella English interviews Courtney Sullivan about her debut novel Commencement.

Ray Bradbury still fighting the good fight on behalf of local library.

Today in Literature: On this day in 1914, the first issue of the radical arts magazine, “Blast”, was published.

“I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.”

-Oscar Wilde

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Tom Rob Smith sounds as if he’s made a cracking good novel around an actual address given by Nikita Krushchev to the Soviet government.  OregonLive reviews THE SECRET SPEECH, and it sounds like good fun.

I love coming across a title I can’t resist.  It’s even better when the review is good.  Wade Rouse chronicles his attempt at homecoming in, AT LEAST IN THE CITY SOMEONE WOULD HEAR ME SCREAM.

Oh dear.  As if things weren’t complicated enough, now we should read Laurie Winn Carlson’s look into why it’s good for us - THE SUNLIGHT SOLUTION: WHY MORE SUN EXPOSUE AND VITAMIN D ARE ESSENTIAL TO YOUR HEALTH.

Library Journal features a page of spy thrillers to consider for your vacation packing.

From the YouTube description:

Frank Wilson interviews Donald Hall at the West Chester University Poetry Conference on June 11, 2009:

School officials in New Hampshire pull “vulgar” stories from a high school English class and the superintendent apologizes.

The jury of the Frankfurt Book Fair has announced that Italian author, professor and columnist Claudio Magris will receive the Frankfurt Booksellers Peace Prize for his unique engagement with “the cohabitation and cooperation between different cultures.”

Random House bids big on novel about Hemingway.

Sam Jordison gins up some discussion on AS Byatt, “an author most critics seem to adore, but many readers love to hate”.

The geeks at CNET get giddy over Google Book Search’s facelift.

Your Salinger fix for the day: a New York Times op-ed sympathetic to a forever young Holden.

From beefcake photo session to steamy romance cover: Gawker looks at how sausage is made.

Today in Literature: On this in 1816, the Shelleys, Lord Byron and their entourage gathered at the Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva to tell the ghost stories that would lead Mary Shelly to write Frankenstein.

“All a good letter has to do is make you feel special.”

-Takayuki Ikkaku

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Fangoria know fangs and, well, gore, and they have great things to say for Guillermo del Torro and Chuck Hogan’s, THE STRAIN.

A book on buoyancy.  Why not?  ScienceNews.org reviews FLOTSAMETRICS AND THE FLOATING WORLD, by Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Eric Scigliano.

The Washington Times struggles to endorse or decry Christopher A. Preble’s, THE POWER PROBLEM: HOW AMERICAN MILITARY DOMINANCE MAKES US LESS SAFE, LESS PROSPEROUS, AND LESS FREE.

The Christian Science Monitor says D.D. Guttenplan’s biography of, AMERICAN RADICAL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF I.F. STONE, gets the job done admirably.

The publisher of THE UNBREAKABLE CHILD has released a promotional trailer, so on behalf of author Kim Michele Richardson, here’s a look for AuthorScoop’s readers: