Yahoo News Judge paves way for publication of tell-all book by Donald Trump's niece
A judge has cleared the way for a publisher to press ahead with distributing a tell-all book written by Donald Trump’s niece.
Mary Trump's book, entitled Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, is due to be published on July 28 by publishers Simon & Schuster, which said thousands of copies had already been sent to bookstores.
On Wednesday evening, the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division lifted the temporary restraining order against Simon & Schuster, reversing a lower court's decision.
The decision allows the publisher to move forward with printing copies of the book and shipping them to retailers.
But the court left the temporary restraining order in place for Ms Trump until a later hearing.
It means the book may yet not be published. The issue revolves around a confidentiality agreement, which Ms Trump signed in 2001 after an argument about a family inheritance.
The judge said the agreement could have altered by the fact that Mr Trump has since become president.
It was also concluded that the book's publishers, Simon & Schulster, could not be bound by the confidentiality agreement.
The appellate court also noted that "while parties are free to enter into confidentiality agreements, courts are not necessarily obligated to specifically enforce them" and said that such agreements are "alternatively enforceable through the impassion of money damages."
In court papers, the publisher said it was not aware of an agreement between Ms Trump and her relatives until she was sued.
In a statement, Simon and Schuster said the book was of “great interest and importance to the national discourse that fully deserves to be published for the benefit of the American public.”
It added: “As all know, there are well-established precedents against prior restraint and pre-publication injunctions, and we remain confident that the preliminary injunction will be denied.”
Mary Trump’s lawyer, Theodore Boutrous Jr, said in a statement that the move was “very good news". He added that he believed a similar finding was necessary for Mary Trump, “based on the First Amendment and basic contract law.”
The book has been promoted an being an “insider’s perspective” of “countless holiday meals, family interactions and family events.”
A court date of July 10 has been set to discuss the conditions of the confidentiality agreement.
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