James Joyce backs down to American author

Professor Carol Shloss, an American university professor at Stanford has won her right to quote works of James Joyce.

Professor Carol Shloss sued the James Joyce estate for the right to quote excerpts from 'Finnegans Wake' and letters between Joyce and his daughter will be able to use the material. Shloss won her right when the Joyce estate agreed not to sue Stanford professor Carol Shloss for copyright infringement if her work is only available in the US.

Professor Carol Shloss started asking for the right to use the material 16 years ago to support her thesis that Lucia Joyce, who died in a mental institution, was the creative muse behind 'Finnegan's Wake'. When this was refused by the author's grandson, Stephen James Joyce, she had to publish her book 'Lucia Joyce: To Dance in the Wake' without them.

Her book was subsequently criticised for being thin on documentary evidence. Shloss then sued Joyce's grandson, Stephen James Joyce, and estate trustee Sean Sweeney, accusing them of destroying papers and intimidating academics.

"This is the first time that the estate has backed down," said attorney David Olson, a member of the Stanford legal team that was involved in the case. "That's why it's so important. Hopefully, this will embolden scholars."

Shloss now hopes to use the newly granted materials - including quotations from letters exchanged between Joyce and his daughter and quotations from Joyce's notebooks describing his observations about Lucia - to create a new appendix to her book as well as posting them on a members-only website available to US users.

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James Joyce backs down to American author