London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, May 31, 2025

Trump's $49 million lawsuit threatens free speech, could 'chill open discourse,' attorneys for Bob Woodward argue

Trump's $49 million lawsuit threatens free speech, could 'chill open discourse,' attorneys for Bob Woodward argue

Trump sued Woodward in January, claiming ownership over recordings of interviews he participated in.
A victory for Donald Trump in federal court would be a blow against freedom, encouraging powerful politicians and others to use the guise of copyright to censor their critics and a"chill open discourse," lawyers for journalist Bob Woodward argued Monday as part of a legal battle over who owns the words that came out of the former president's mouth while he was in office.

In January, Trump sued the legendary reporter for The Washington Post in a Florida federal court after he published audio recordings of interviews he had conducted with the former president, dubbed "The Trump Tapes."

An attorney for Trump, who is seeking more than $49 million, argued that the publication violated an alleged verbal contract that Woodward had made to only use the interviews for one, written book, "Rage," published on the eve of the 2020 election — and that Trump, as the subject of the interviews, was in fact the rightful owner of the copyright over the recordings and thus entitled to at least half the proceeds.

Legal experts previously told Insider that Trump was unlikely to win the case, arguing that, above all, courts would be hesitant to establish a thorny precedent that could grant politicians legal ownership over comments they made while in office (and the ensuing right to block their publication). Some speculated that the lawsuit was filed, primarily, as a means of demonstrating Trump's annoyance over embarrassing material being made public — and lending it the veneer of legitimacy. As one publishing industry lawyer said of the former president's legal action: "It's a press release designed as a complaint."

Attorneys for Woodward, his publisher, Simon & Shuster, and parent company Paramount say the case should just be thrown out.

In a motion to dismiss, filed Monday, lawyers for the defendants note that the former president never filed his own copyright registration for the works in question. And, they argue, it would not even matter if he did because government employees simply cannot claim ownership of things they said to a journalist while in public office.

The alternative — upholding a politician's ownership claim over a journalist's interviews — would threaten the right to free speech, the attorneys state.

"Such a regime would give President Trump and other public officials interviewed by the press the right to sue over any critical or unwelcome use of their statements," the attorneys wrote in another filing laying out the legal case behind their motion to dismiss. "Copyright equates to legal control over expression and requiring journalists to negotiate authorship rights away from interviewees, particularly public officials, would invite contractual censorship of criticism and chill open discourse."

The question is not an abstract one, either, coming just as Trump has been indicted on multiple felony counts in Manhattan.

"Any decision granting President Trump private ownership of his statements to the press as President would stymie discussion of his place in American history and contradict the long tradition of opening up a President's words to public scrutiny," the attorneys argue.

Lawyers for Woodward and his publisher are also seeking to have the case dismissed on the grounds that Trump filed it in an improper venue, arguing that it should be heard instead — if at all — in Washington, DC, where many of the interviews were conducted.

An attorney for Trump, Robert Garson, accused the defendants of disguising a cash grab behind rhetoric about the public good. The former president, he maintained, has a right to own his responses in the Woodward interviews, but was unable to file a copyright claim himself because he didn't have his own copies of the recordings.

But Garson conceded that the case is not a typical copyright dispute, given the parties, and that the law is in some respects murky when it comes to public figures and intellectual property.

"The one thing you can say is this case, like many others with Trump, is a first," Garson told Insider. "It's going to be an interesting one, that's for sure."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
Italy Faces Population Decline Amid Youth Emigration
U.S. Goods Imports Plunge Nearly 20% Amid Tariff Disruptions
OpenAI Faces Competition from Cheaper AI Rivals
Foreign Tax Provision in U.S. Budget Bill Alarms Investors
Trump Accuses China of Violating Trade Agreement
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Against BBC
Russia Accuses Serbia of Supplying Arms to Ukraine
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
Chinese Woman Dies After Being Forced to Visit Bank Despite Critical Illness
President Trump Grants Full Pardons to Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act Mandating Age Verification
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Vatican Calls for Sustainable Tourism in 2025 Message
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on iPhones Amid Dispute with Apple CEO
Putin's Helicopter Reportedly Targeted by Ukrainian Drones
Liverpool Car Ramming Incident Leaves Multiple Injured
Australia Faces Immigration Debate Following Labor Party Victory
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
Macron Dismisses Viral Video of Wife's Gesture as Playful Banter
Cleveland Clinic Study Questions Effectiveness of Recent Flu Vaccine
Netanyahu Accuses Starmer of Siding with Hamas
Junior Doctors Threaten Strike Over 4% Pay Offer
Labour MPs Urge Chancellor to Tax Wealthy Over Cutting Welfare
Publication of UK Child Poverty Strategy Delayed Until Autumn
France Detains UK Fishing Vessel Amid Post-Brexit Tensions
Calls Grow to Resume Syrian Asylum Claims in UK
Nigel Farage Pledges to Reinstate Winter Fuel Payments
Boris and Carrie Johnson Welcome Daughter Poppy
×