Harold Norse v. Henry Holt and Co. And Ted Morgan

Appellant Harold Norse is a Beat poet and writer who was a colleague of the writer William Burroughs. Appellee Ted Morgan is the author of a biography, Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs (“Literary Outlaw ”), and appellee Henry Holt and Company, is the book’s publisher. Norse charges Morgan and Holt with copyright infringement for copying in Literary Outlaw phrases from his copyrighted unpublished letters, which are available at New York University’s Fales Library. All the copied phrases appear in the following paragraph of Literary Outlaw and are denoted by italics:

Literary Outlaw at 394.

On the basis of this single paragraph in Literary Outlaw, Norse brought this action against the author and publisher not only for copyright infringement, but also for defamation, unfair competition, and breach of contract. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the author and publisher on all claims. Norse appeals.

I. THE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT CLAIM

It is undisputed that Norse owns a valid copyright in his letters, and that phrases from his letters were in fact copied in Literary Outlaw. The district court did not decide whether there was a copying…