Federal judge dismisses Trump lawsuit against Bob Woodward after long delay

A federal judge on Friday officially dismissed President Donald Trump's lawsuit against iconic Watergate reporter Bob Woodward, ruling that responses the president gave the reporter for a book are protected by copyright.

Trump sued Woodward in January of 2023 for selling an audiobook of the interviews, which were for the reporter's book titled "Rage." Trump gave Woodward 19 interviews and has admitted that he allowed the interviews to be recorded.

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe rejected Trump's argument that he was a joint author of the tapes and that he did not have any claims to the recordings because they were protected under copyright, according to The Hill. 

“There is almost no support in the case law for the notion that an interviewee has a copyright interest in his responses to interview questions, and such a conclusion would run counter to animating principles of the Copyright Act,” the judge wrote. 

The recordings were released in an audiobook titled the "Trump Tapes," that was published two years after "Rage," Reuters reported. Trump argued that he told Woodward that the interviews were only for the physical book, but Woodward said he never agreed to restrict the interviews.

The ruling comes more than a year after Woodward and his publisher Simon & Schuster asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit. Trump has also pushed the judge to issue his ruling in the case faster, but Gardephe in December said he would not expedite his decision, and that he was still working on it.

“In another biased action by a New York Court, this wrongful decision was issued without even affording President Trump the basic due process of a hearing," a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said. "We will continue to ensure that those who commit wrongdoing against President Trump and all Americans are held accountable."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.