QUICK TAKES - July 2, 2009

A Swedish author whose new book was promoted as a sequel to J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” cannot publish it in the United States because it too closely mirrors Salinger’s classic without adequate parody or critique, a judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts issued her written ruling in Manhattan after considering arguments in a lawsuit brought by the reclusive 90-year-old author against the publishers of “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye.” Batts said Swedish author Fredrik Colting had “taken well more from ‘Catcher,’ in both substance and style, than is necessary for the alleged transformative purpose of criticizing Salinger and his attitudes and behavior.”

SCB Distributors, which planned to distribute the book, hoped to reverse the judge’s ruling on appeal and sell the book in the U.S. this fall, company President Aaron Silverman said. Wednesday’s ruling was a temporary order meant to remain in place until the full facts of the case could be aired at a later trial.