Courtney Love was sued last April by the collaborator she hired to co-write a memoir. (The collaborator alleged Love failed to make payments due under their agreement; the parties settled.) Former Westchester District Attorney, Jeanine Pirro, was sued in October by a collaborator hired to co-write a book that would include Pirro’s role in investigating accused murderer Robert Durst. (That collaborator claimed, among other complaints, that Pirro had not dedicated sufficient time to the book; Pirro has moved to compel arbitration.) Last month [November 2015] the Daily News reported that Donald Trump’s new book, “Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again,” was written by someone else. (He or she received no credit.)1
Each of these literary relationships fits within a broader legal discussion about artistic collaboration, which concerns joint authorship, ownership and works for hire. While all creative collaborations have features in common, there’s a uniquely intimate and trusting nature of the relationship between someone whose story interests the public (the subject), and a writer engaged by her to put that story, either jointly or singly, into concrete form (the writer).
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