According to a legal brief provided by his lawyers, Fredrik Colting, the author of the book “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye,” says that his novel is not a sequel to “Catcher in the Rye,”but rather “a complex and undeniably transformative exposition about one of our nation’s most famous authors, J.D. Salinger, and his best known creation, Holden Caulfield.”

J.D. Salinger says is “a rip-off pure and simple” of “The Catcher in the Rye”.

(Read the entire story by Dave Itzkoff at The New York Times website.)

Mr. Colting will need to demonstrate that his work falls into the exceptions established under the doctrine of fair use.  In the meantime, Mr. Colting may want to look into the similar problems encountered by Alice Randal when she published “The Wind Done Gone” and promptly was sued by the estate of Margaret Mitchell for her “unauthorized parody”.  (Just for the record, parodies don’t require authorization.)

Word to the wise–to avoid raising the ire of unexpired copyright holders, focus your commentary and parody on works that have entered the public domain. (See “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”) 

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