Scholar vs. James Joyce estate: A fair use win

Here is another story about an aggressive descendant of a literary lion that I do not think has been mentioned on this blog yet. The great-great-grandson of Victor Hugo attempted to ban a modern sequel to Les Misérables. He lost his case in France’s highest appeal court as reported in the Guardian in January. Les Misérables was first published in 1862.

Angry descendants have written to President Jacques Chirac, to the European parliament and to France’s culture ministry urging them to criticise the book. In an open letter to the French newspaper Libération they asked: “Can one imagine commissioning the 10th symphony of Beethoven?” Hugo purists were furious that (the author of the sequel) resurrected Inspector Javert, the villain of Hugo’s story who jumps into the Seine at the end, and recast him as a hero.

The Hugo family seems to be enamored with powerful copyrights. The ubiquitous Berne Convention, the most important international copyright agreement, was developed at the instigation of Victor Hugo claims Wikipedia.

Garson, that tale about Victor Hugo is amazing. Thank god we don’t have to deal with moral rights here. We have a hard enough time with fair use.

Warning: there was no “win” here. The article said that her attorneys negotiated a “covenant not to sue” with the Joyce estate. They were able to do this because Stanford viewed it in their best self-interest to shield their professor from a lawsuit. Can individuals trying to exert fair use rights without a team of university attorneys gain any benefit from the outcome of this case?