Gawker removes Palin pages, settles lawsuit with HarperCollins

Not the first time Gawker and sister sites have faced legal challenges
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HarperCollins says in a statement released Wednesday that the book publisher and the owners of a Soros-funded snarky leftist website have resolved the lawsuit HC had filed over a Gawker post which displayed photographed pages from Sarah Palin‘s America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag.

Over the weekend, a federal judge ordered Gawker to remove the excerpts.

Here is the full HarperCollins statement:

HarperCollins has reached an agreement with Gawker resolving the lawsuit it filed against Gawker on Friday over Gawker’s unauthorized posting of pages from Sarah Palin’s then-unpublished book, America by Heart, which goes on sale today. In the suit, HarperCollins alleged that Gawker’s postings infringed the copyright in the book, and violated HarperCollins’ exclusive publication rights. On Saturday afternoon, Judge Thomas Griesa of the US District Court in Manhattan entered a temporary restraining order against Gawker. In an opinion issued yesterday, Judge Grisea stated that “the purpose of the copyright law is to prevent the kind of copying that has taken place here.” Judge Grisea’s opinion also said that Gawker “published what amounts to a substantial portion of the book” but “essentially engaged in no commentary or discussion”, and that it had “not used the copyrighted material to help create something new but has merely copied the material in order to attract viewers.” Immediately after the hearing, Gawker removed the offending pages from its web site as the Judge ordered.

In settling the case, Gawker has agreed to keep the posted material off its web site and not to post the material again in the future.

HarperCollins is gratified that it was able to resolve the dispute in this way. HarperCollins does welcome public commentary on its books so long as any book content is utilized in a manner that is consistent with the law.

At The Cutline, Michael Calderone oberved this is not the only instance of Gawker and its fellow traveler websites have been in legal hot water:

In a July profile of Gawker attorney Gaby Darbyshire, the New York Observer's John Koblin wrote that "the number of cease-and-desist complaints she has received has skyrocketed since 2007," with over 600 complaints against Gawker Media in the past three years. "Nevertheless," he continued, "Gawker very-very-rarely pulls down a post and only infrequently has legal problems that escalate."

This year, Gawker sites have run into controversy after posting images of Apple's next-generation iPhone prototype (Gizmodo), quarterback Brett Favre's "seductive" voicemails to a Jets sideline reporter (Deadspin), and an anonymous account of a Halloween night spent with former Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell (Gawker). None of those posts were pulled. So the Palin item certainly qualifies as a "very-very-rare" example.

- JP

Federal judge to Gawker: Take down the Palin pages (Updated)

Maybe their lawyers will "walk them through it"
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The Associated Press reports that a federal judge in New York today ordered Gawker Media to pull leaked pages of Sarah Palin's new book America by Heart from its leftist moonbat blog:

The injunction prohibits Gawker from "continuing to distribute, publish or otherwise transmit pages from the book" pending a hearing on Nov. 30.

HarperCollins Publishers had sued Gawker after it published images on Nov. 17 from Palin's book before its release next week.

[...]

Gawker defended its action in a post Thursday titled "Sarah Palin is Mad at Us for Leaking Pages From Her Book" and addressed a message to "Sarah" telling her to read pages about fair use under copyright law. "Or skip the totally boring reading and call one of your lawyers," the post said. "They'll walk you through it."

HarperCollins filed its legal complaint Friday in federal court, arguing that the wacko website not be allowed to engage in what it termed "further copyright infringement." The AP says it couldn't immediately reach Gawker Media LLC to get a comment from the Soros-funded leftists Saturday, but they appeared to have pulled the embargoed pages from their sewer of a blog.

Perhaps the PDS-deranged "progressives" at Gawker should "read some pages about" infringement under copyright law. Or, they can "skip the totally boring reading" and call one of their lawyers who will "walk them through it."

Update: Stacy has a copy of the restraining order up at The Other McCain.

- JP

Gov. Palin's publisher sues Gawker for copyright infringement

Leftist website refuses to remove embargoed pages
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HarperCollins, the publisher of Sarah Palin's forthcoming second book, filed a federal lawsuit against Gawker Media Friday for leaking pages of America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag ahead of its November 23 release date:

Two days before the Manhattan filing, gutter website Gawker published images of more than 20 of the open book's pages. Gov. Palin tweeted Thursday, "Isn't that illegal?"

Her publisher contends it is. The lawsuit asks that Gawker be banned from what it terms "further copyright infringement" and that Gawker deliver the source material to the publisher so it can be destroyed. HarperCollins is also seeking financial damages.

Gawker did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment Friday evening, but an item published the day before and titled "Sarah Palin Is Mad at Us for Leaking Pages From Her Book" defended the blog's actions and linked to websites defining the fair use doctrine of copyright law.

The blog was not the first site to publish excerpts from the book, which has been billed as a tribute to American values, but it refused to take them down after receiving a letter demanding that it do so, the lawsuit said. The Associated Press bought a copy of the book ahead of its Nov. 23 release date.

The 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate's first book, the memoir Going Rogue: An American Life, has sold over 2.7 million copies.

- JP

Quote of the Day (May 30, 2009)

From my RedState.com colleague Moe Lane's diary, "Welcome to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy, Gawker":

"On the bright side, you no longer have to pretend that you actually care about recycling, that secondhand smoke is a greater killer than Hitler, that Sarah Palin is dumber than Joe Biden, or that if you had a gun and six frothing maniacs bearing down at you that you wouldn’t toss it to Dick Cheney and hit the dirt."

- JP