Overview

• U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe dismissed on July 18 President Trump’s nearly $50 million lawsuit against Bob Woodward and Simon & Schuster over "The Trump Tapes" audiobook.
• Gardephe found that Trump failed to plausibly claim joint authorship of the 19 interviews he gave between December 2019 and August 2020.
• The ruling holds that the U.S. Copyright Act prohibits government officials from owning copyrights on interviews conducted in their official capacities and bars state-law claims.
• Trump may file an amended complaint by August 18, though the judge noted it appears unlikely to succeed.
• No prior president has ever sought copyright ownership of official interviews, highlighting the unprecedented nature of Trump’s suit.