Important news this week: The Stanford Center for Internet and Society and Robert Spoo, a noted Joyce scholar and lawyer, have filed a lawsuit arguing that scholar's Carol Shloss's proposed use of some unpublished material by James Joyce is a fair use. They are also suggesting that Stephen Joyce, James's grandson, may have engaged in copyright misuse. You can find the announcement and a copy of the complaint at http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/003430.shtml.
In a related story, the New Yorker has an article about Stephen Joyce's attempts to control scholarship about his family. The problems with the estate led to the development of an FAQ about the use of Joyce material, described in an earlier post.
It has been awhile since we have had a lawsuit that tests the boundaries of fair use of unpublished material. The Joyce suit has the potential for clarifying the boundaries of scholarly fair use.