Stanford prof sues James Joyce's estate for right to quote works

Pa ElGrande

SAN FRANCISCO - A Stanford University professor on Monday sued James Joyce's estate for refusing to give her permission to use copyrighted material about the "Ulysses" author and his daughter on her scholarly Web site.

In the federal court lawsuit filed here, Carol Shloss, an acting English professor and Joycean scholar, challenged the estate's assertion that she would be infringing on its ownership of Joyce's image by quoting his published works, manuscripts and private letters on her site.

Instead, Shloss accused Joyce's grandson, Stephen James Joyce, and estate trustee, Sean Sweeney, of destroying papers, improperly withholding access to copyrighted materials and actively intimidating academics to protect the Joyce family name.

Stephen James Joyce is not named as a defendant in the suit, but as an agent of his father's estate.
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Before the book was published, publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux cut several supporting citations from Shloss' tome to avoid sparking a lawsuit, according to Olson. Shloss wants to post that information as an electronic appendix to answer several critics who charged that "To Dance in the Wake" was interesting, but thin on documentary evidence, Olson said.

"It's painful once you've written something ... that you think is complete and good, to have it hacked up," Olson said. "There is a desire to bring it forth in way she originally intended."

Shloss prepared the Web site last year but never made it public because she worried about getting sued, Olson said. Among the items excised from the book are quotations from "Finnegan's Wake" she thinks support her thesis, as well as letters between James Joyce and his daughter, according to Olson.

Shloss wants the court to declare she's entitled to use information the estate controls under laws that allow authors to quote copyrighted works if they do it in "a scholarly transformative manner."

"We think the estate of James Joyce has been particularly egregious in misusing its copyright," Olson said. "You shouldn't try to use copyright to try to take editorial control of someone's work."

Stanford prof sues James Joyce's estate for right to quote works
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“Come forth, Lazarus! And he came fifth and lost the job.”
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