Politics - News Analysis

Trump’s Ridiculous, Self-Absorbed New Book of Private Celebrity Letters Could Land Him in Court

Donald Trump has written a book about his correspondences with numerous celebrities and political figures, and in so doing, may have opened himself up to additional lawsuits.

He is set to release the book Letters to Trump in April and it is studded with communications sent to him by celebrities and other well-known figures such as Oprah Winfrey, Princess Diana, Ronald Reagan, Hillary Clinton, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Newsweek reports.

At this point, however, it’s not really clear whether Trump has the right to publish these letters because he may not own the full copyright to their content. Winning Team Publishing, which is publishing the book is trying to say there has been “actual or implied permission” from the letter senders who are private individuals, per Newsweek.

But according to Jane C. Ginsburg, professor of literary and artistic property Law at Columbia University School of Law in New York, there’s a long-held principle that those who write letters, not the recipients, retain the copyright in the text that has been “well-established in copyright law” for hundreds of years.

“Going back to a famous case from 1741, in which poet Alexander Pope sued Edmond Curll for publishing Pope’s letters,” Ginsburg told Newsweek, “Pope prevailed. Lord Justice Hardwick announced a distinction between the ‘property of the paper’ which belonged to the recipient of the letters, and the property in the words, which remained with the writer.”

Ginsburg also added that this distinction of ownership of copyright which differs from ownership of material objects still applies in U.S. courts and is codified in sec. 202 of the U.S. Copyright Act.

According to the act:

“Transfer of ownership of any material object, including the copy or phonorecord in which the work is first fixed [e.g. the original letter], does not of itself convey any rights in the copyrihgted work embodied in the object; nor, in the absence of an agreement, does transfer of ownership of a copyright or of any exclusive rights under a copyright convey property rights in any material object.”

But Winning Team Publishing is pushing back, with a spokesperson telling Newsweek in a statement:

“The book comprises of a unique collection of correspondence either from President Trump or frum public officials both foreign and domestic, or from private individuals. For those in public office at the time, no copyright protection arises.”

“For the last category, Winning Team Publishing has either actual or implied consent for their publication.”

It’s hard to say what Oprah Winfrey will do in this case. Trump’s book reveals one letter in particular from the beloved talk show host. Trump had declared in his book The America We Deserve, which was published in 2000 that Oprah would be his first choice for Vice President.

“I have to tell you your comments made me a little weepy, Oprah responded.

“It’s one thing to try to live a life of integrity — still another to have people like yourself notice.”

In 2021 Meghan Markle sued British Newspaper The Mail On Sunday after it published large portions of a handwritten letter she sent to her father, Thomas Markle, prior to her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018. The UK high court ruled in her favor, finding that this was a misuse of her private information and an infringement of her copyright.

And in his popular Twitter account Letters of Note which shares “nothing but history’s most interesting letters,” author Shaun Usher debated the issue.

“I’m interested to know to know how he got these cleared for publication,” Usher tweeted. “Would Oprah, for example really agree to that? And Princess Diana’s estate?”

“You’d need to double-check with a lawyer but as far as I’m aware, although he owns the letter itself he would still need permission to reprint an image of it as the underlying copyright remains with the author, e.g. Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton.”

You may remember that Winning Team Publishing previously published Trump’s book Our Journey Together, a coffee-table-sized book of photos. But for this latest book, the company does not mention whether it obtained permission from each person to reprint the letters.

“In his latest book, published by Winning Team Publishing, Letters to Trump, reveals part of the incredible private collection of correspondence between President Donald J. Trump and the countless world leaders, celebrities, athletes, and business leaders who shaped the United States and the world,” reads the book’s description.

So Trump is stirring the pot again, and yet another lawsuit may spring from this. I would think many of those cited in the book may feel quite insulted about their letters appearing in the book. Especially Oprah Winfrey, who has in the past, been a friend of the former president. She is a dedicated Democrat, however, and supported Hillary Clinton in 2016.

meet the author

Megan has lived in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida and she currently lives in Central America. Living in these places has informed her writing on politics, science, and history. She is currently owned by 15 cats and 3 dogs and regularly owns Trump supporters when she has the opportunity. She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GaiaLibra and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/politicalsaurus

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