PW: 'First Wives Club' Lawsuit Inches Toward Trial

Barring a last-minute settlement, a long-running lawsuit filed in 1991 by freelance writer Cynthia Maurizio against bestselling author Olivia Goldsmith is edging closer to trial. Maurizio's suit charged copyright infringement by Goldsmith and asked the court to declare joint authorship of the 1990 novel The First Wives Club. Maurizio claims that she co-wrote an outline and early draft of the novel that was used without her knowledge or compensation.

Although Judge Lawrence McKenna dismissed several of Maurizio's claims earlier this year, including that of joint authorship, he declined to dismiss the copyright infringement claims entirely and also left several other claims intact.

Howard Schwartz, lawyer for Goldsmith, told PW that he was "pleased with portions of the judge's decision." He is confident that if the suit d s go to trial, "we'll win on the facts."