‘Rye’ spinoff riles Salinger

J.D. Salinger, the 90-year-old creator of “The Catcher in the Rye,” as protective of his copyright as he is of his privacy, is seeking an injunction against the writer, publishers and distributor of a spinoff of the author’s famous 1951 novel.

Lawyers for Salinger filed the lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan on Monday, seeking to force a recall of what it says is a copycat book titled “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye,” by someone writing under the name John David California. The book is scheduled to be published in Britain this summer and in the United States in the fall.

The lawsuit said the right to create a sequel to “The Catcher in the Rye” or to use the character “Holden Caulfield” belongs only to Salinger. The lawsuit says Salinger has “decidedly chosen not to exercise that right.”