HarperCollins, the publisher of US politician Sarah Palin’s second book, has reportedly settled a copyright infringement lawsuit with gossip website Gawker.
The publishing company – which is part of the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp – sued Gawker Media after it published extracts from Palin’s new book “America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag” before its release on Tuesday 30th November.
In a Manhattan court, a federal judge ordered Gawker to remove a total of 21 pages from Palin’s book it had published on the Gawker.com website. Although HarperCollins was allegedly suing for unspecified damages, it seems that a more amicable agreement has been reached.
A spokesperson for Palin’s publishers said that Gawker had taken down the material and agreed not to repeat the infringing action in the future, whilst a representative for the gossip website said that the legal dispute had actually helped HarperCollins by generating publicity for the book. Gawker spokeswoman Erin Crum said:
“Now that the book is out and destined to appear on the bestseller list, we’re pleased that HarperCollins proposed settling this case as is, thus avoiding lengthy litigation for both sides,”
Such a lengthy court case, as Ms Crum mentions, would have been likely to cost both sides a considerable amount in legal fees unless they had professional insurance to cover such situations.