By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump can’t pursue his almost $50 million lawsuit against the journalist Bob Woodward for publishing tapes from interviews for his 2020 best-seller “Rage” as an audiobook, a federal choose ruled on Friday.
The choice by U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan is a victory for Woodward, his writer Simon & Schuster and its former proprietor Paramount Global.
They had argued that federal law barred the U.S. president from copyrighting interviews carried out as half of his official duties, and that no president before him ever demanded royalties for publishing presidential interviews.
The defendants also called Woodward the “sole architect and true author” of the interviews, just as journalists like the late Walter Cronkite and Barbara Walters were in interviews with other presidents.
Woodward also said his interviews mirrored “classic news reporting” that helped convey correct data to the public, and thus amounted to “fair use.”
Trump was interviewed by Woodward Trump 19 occasions between December 2019 and August 2020, and about 20% of “Rage” came from the interviews.
The e book was launched in September 2020, while the audiobook “The Trump Tapes,” including Woodward’s commentary, was launched in October 2022.
Trump sued in January 2023, saying he instructed Woodward repeatedly that the interviews were meant solely for the e book. Woodward said he never agreed to that restriction.
The $49.98 million damages request was based mostly on what Trump’s attorneys called projected gross sales of 2 million audiobooks at $24.99 each.
Paramount offered Simon & Schuster in October 2023 to personal equity firm KKR for $1.62 billion in money.
The case is Trump v Simon & Schuster Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 23-06883.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)
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