Unauthorized Sequels To The Great Books: Legitimate Re-imaginings Or Litigation Bait?

“It’s easy to imagine, though, that [Jane Austen] might not be amused by Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies … Were she alive and litigious, like the even more private and reclusive J. D. Salinger, Austen might go to court seeking to stop publication of Mr. Grahame-Smith’s best-selling book, or at least to get a piece of the royalties.” As Salinger did recently when he put a stop to Fredrik Colting’s 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye. Should that sort of sequel be protected? “Where do you draw the line between critique or parody and outright exploitation?”