SV Media Law Blog : New Media Law : Lawyer & Attorney Cathy Kirkman : E-commerce, Venture Capital, Technology

It's summertime, hence less blogging, and more reading like Paul Goldstein's new novel, Errors and Omissions, which was published this month by Doubleday. 

It's a Hollywood suspense thriller about a copyright lawyer named Michael Seeley who is drawn into a web of intrigue when he is asked to research who owns the rights to a blockbuster movie property.   Seeley is an author's rights lawyer who's already dealing with a few problems, like potential disbarment, and now has to deal with a script written during the Blacklist era.  The characters are memorable, from Mayer Bermann, the manipulative studio head with Old World secrets, to Dr. Reimer, the fastidious young German lawyer who would rather get beat up than break attorney-client privilege.

Paul Goldstein was my copyright professor at Stanford, so I admit my bias, and of course I think being a copyright lawyer is super exciting.  That said, I couldn't put the book down -- it's easy vacation reading that keeps moving and has great plot twists.   When you're done you want more -- the sequel, the film.  Here's a transcript of my interview with Paul:

CK:  What made you decide to write a novel?  Your list of publications is very long, but has always been about the substantive law as far as I recall, although Copyright's Highway was the work of a storyteller.  

PG:  I wrote fiction--mostly short stories-- actively all through high school and college. Years later, at about the time Copyright's Highway was getting me back into the rhythm of narrative, I worked on a  fascinating copyright case involving the James Bond movie franchise, and had one of those "What if?' moments that triggers so much fiction. You know, what if the screenplay was written during the Blacklist era....And that's what led to Errors and Omissions. 
 
CK:  How did you decide on the subject matter?  Was this already an area of special interest?  (I wrote my senior thesis on Thomas Mann and now think the topic of his Hollywood days would have been far more interesting than what I selected).

PG:  I've long been interested in the Blacklist and in the era of the old Hollywood moguls. This was a good occasion to do some deeper research into both. 
 
CK:  How does the story draw from your personal experience?  I expect you have dealt with some intricate chain of title issues, for example.

PG:  Certainly, work on the James Bond case provided insights--Pierce O'Donnell was the lead trial lawyer in the case and did a wonderful job-- as did my work sorting through copyright chains of title--particularly, as in Errors and Omissions, when the work implicates foreign points of attachment. My work on Tasini v. N.Y. Times also helped sharpen my views on the importance of protecting authors' rights which, as you know, is a central theme in the book. 
 
CK:   I really like your easy style and on-the-mark but unforced descriptions.  Who are your literary heroes and inspirations?

PG:  In the field of legal fiction, I've always admired Scott Turow's work, but my tastes--and I suppose my influences--are fairly catholic, and would certainly include Chandler, Hemingway and Raymond Carver. 
 
CK:  It feels like there could easily be a screenplay and/or sequel here – any word on this?

PG:  Definitely a sequel--which I'm working on now and will find Michael Seeley in and around San Francisco and Silicon Valley. 
 
CK:  In terms of the copyright law in general, what issues or developments are most interesting to you these days, in terms of recent cases, proposed legislation, etc. -- any words of wisdom to share?

PG:  I'd keep my eyes on the Orphan Works legislation and on the AAP v. Google litigation.
 
CK:   In terms of Grokster, at the Stanford forum last summer on Grokster I think you said intent-based tests are a disaster and the case ultimately might not be that significant and instead might be viewed as a unique set of facts.  Am I misstating this, and/or where do you think we are a year later?

PG:  I predicted that, apart from possibly making summary judgment harder to get in these cases because of the new factual focus, Grokster would have little effect. Nothing I've seen so far suggests different. 
  
CK:   What does it feel like to switch out of serious law professor mode to novelist mode?  I hope you're having fun with it.  That's it -- I won't abuse your kindness with another question.  

PG:  Who said I switched out of serious law professor mode? I've always enjoyed keeping several projects going at once, particularly when--as with my teaching, writing and practice, and now fiction--they are complementary in so many ways.

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