Shloss v. Sweeney
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
515 F. Supp. 2d 1068 (2007)
Biographer Carol Loeb Shloss (plaintiff), after researching a book about James Joyce and his daughter Lucia using original family materials, was repeatedly denied permission and threatened over several years by Stephen Joyce, beneficiary of the James Joyce estate (defendant), who stated the estate had never lost a lawsuit and rejected a fair-use assertion; Shloss's published book omitted many original sources, but she later prepared a finalized electronic supplement for a website containing the previously objected-to materials, notified the estate, and again received objections along with a reservation of rights. Shloss sued for a declaratory judgment that the supplement constituted fair use and wouldn't infringe any copyright; the estate argued Shloss lacked reasonable apprehension of liability, that an earlier covenant not to sue mooted the issue, and that any ruling would be merely advisory since the supplement wasn't yet published.
Whether, under copyright law, declaratory judgment is available if the plaintiff demonstrates a real and reasonable belief it will be subject to liability, and the belief was caused by the defendant's actions.