President Donald Trump has fired back at Bob Woodward by hitting the reporter with a massive $49 million lawsuit over disputed interview recordings.
Trump gave an interview for a book Woodward wrote about the 45th president and his administration.
The lawsuit alleges Trump didn’t agree that Woodward could include the recordings in the audiobook.
The lawsuit was filed in the Pensacola division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
It names Simon & Schuster Inc. and its parent company Paramount Global as defendants along with Woodward.
Trump is looking for more than $49 million in damages.
The suit says: “Plaintiff, President Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America files this Complaint against the Defendants, Simon & Schuster, Inc. (‘SSI’), Robert Woodward, professionally known as Bob Woodward (‘Woodward’), and Paramount Global, and further alleges as follows:
“Said audio was protected material, subject to various limitations on use and distribution—as a matter of copyright, license, contract, basic principles of the publishing industry, and core values of fairness and consent.”
“This case centers on Mr. Woodward’s systematic usurpation, manipulation, and exploitation of audio of President Trump gathered in connection with a series of interviews conducted by Mr. Woodward,” Trump’s team argues in the filing.
“Prior to commencing this litigation, President Trump and his counsel confronted Defendants with their wrongdoing; however, they brazenly refused to recognize President Trump’s copyright and contractual rights.
“Instead, they proffered various flawed and irrelevant justifications which are unavailing and devoid of any legal merit.
“Rather than cease their infringement, or even account to President Trump, the Defendants have doubled down; in an avaricious attempt to reap more benefits from their ongoing violation of President Trump’s rights, Defendants have converted the audio not only into an audiobook but also into derivative works, including a CD, paperback, and e-book—again, all at the expense of President Trump and without accounting to him.
“The Defendants’ ongoing concerted efforts to profit off the protected audio recordings and the works they have distributed derived from the protected audio recordings have caused President Trump to sustain substantial damage,” the suit says.
Former President Donald Trump sued journalist Bob Woodward in federal court on Monday over interview recordings that Mr. Trump claims he didn’t agree could be included in an audiobook. https://t.co/pusqP6e2dn
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) January 31, 2023
Donald Trump has found a new avenue to sue the media: Copyright. He filed a lawsuit in federal court on Monday, alleging that Bob Woodward and his publisher, Simon & Schuster, needed his permission before releasing the audio book, ‘The Trump Tapes’ https://t.co/tf5qOnfbfZ
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) January 30, 2023
