Judge Orders Simpson To Auction If I Did It Rights

by Craig Morgan Teicher -- Publishers Weekly, 3/14/2007 9:25:00 AM

Yesterday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg ordered that the rights to O. J. Simpson’s controversial book, If I Did It, and the accompanying TV special, be auctioned off. This decision ensures that Simpson will receive no form of compensation if the book and special are ever published or aired.

The Goldman family will receive the auction proceeds, and Simpson will be unable to collect any royalties should either project see publication. The Judge intends for these hypothetical funds to make a dent in a $33.5 million wrongful death judgement, which the Goldman and Brown families won against Simpson in 1997. With interest, Simpson now owes $38 million.

In response to public outrage, News Corp, parent company of publisher HarperCollins, scrapped both the book and special just before November publication by the now defunct ReganBooks imprint.

The auction could be held as soon as 30 days from the ruling, though no date has been set.