Trump's $50 million lawsuit in Pensacola claims Woodward audiobook infringes copyright

Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit in Florida's Northern District Court in Pensacola Monday asking for nearly $50 million in damages after Bob Woodward released his audio interviews with Trump as an audiobook.

Trump's lawsuit names Bob Woodward, Simon & Schuster Inc. (SSI) and Paramount Global as part of "Mr. Woodward's systemic usurpation, manipulation and exploitation of audio of President Trump gathered in connection with a series of interviews conducted by Mr. Woodward" for his book "Rage."

"In usurping, manipulation and exploiting such material, Mr. Woodward has acted in concert with SSI ... and SSI's parent company, Paramount," the suit claims. "Individually and collectively, these entities have systematically, blatantly and unlawfully usurped President Trump's copyright interests, his contractual rights and the rights he holds as an interviewee through the publication of an audiobook."

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The lawsuit claims Woodward's use of his recorded interviews intended for the book violated Trump's copyright by publishing the audio of their interview sessions between Dec. 5, 2019, and April 13, 2020, called "The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump."

Trump's lawyers from GS2 Law PLLC filed the suit in Pensacola because SSI, Paramount and Woodward "transacts business within this District" either through publishing services to authors or publication of literary materials.

This suit comes weeks after a West Palm Beach-based federal judge ordered Trump to pay nearly $1 million in sanctions for a March 2022 lawsuit he filed against his 2016 presidential election rival Hillary Clinton.

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks said the lawsuit was "intended for a political purpose" and none of the counts brought before the court "stated a cognizable legal claim."

"This case should never have been brought," Middlebrooks wrote in his order Jan. 19. "Its inadequacy as a legal claims was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it."

In the current case, Trump asks the U.S. District Court in Pensacola to "enter a judgment against the defendant, Robert Woodward, for damages, together with costs, pre-judgment interest, attorney's fees." He also requested a jury trial "on all issues so triable."

USA TODAY contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Trump files lawsuit against Bob Woodward for copyright infringement