Novelist Emma Cline Is Counter
Emma Cline
Novelist Emma Cline  is counter-suing  her  ex-boyfriend's suit against  her  alleging that  she  plagiarized  her  2016 bestseller The Girls from his own work.
 Cline 's novel â which features a 60s-era Manson-like cult as seen from the perspective of its followers â stuck around for 12 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and is the first installment in a three-book Penguin Random House deal that reportedly topped $2 million.
The former boyfriend  Chaz Reetz-Laiolo  alleges  Cline  installed spyware on her computer before selling it to him in order to record keystrokes on the computer. "Using the spyware " the complaint says  "she obtained his email password  which she then used to access and systematically surveil his private email obsessively over a period of years."
However  Emma Cline's complaint calls this "a ludicrous theory" and counters with the claim that this is just the latest in a "two-year assault on  Cline âs mental health and literary reputation" from an abusive Reetz-Laiolo. Any alleged plagiarism  the complaint states  is limited to a "few brief phrases or facts " which are not subject to copyright protection and which don't appear in the published version of the novel. Both parties are requesting the case go to trial.
Most plagiarism cases are tough to prove  and this one is made harder by both the lack of evidence and lack of copyright protections available for most of the instances of alleged plagiarism cited by Reetz-Laiolo. So why file the complaint at all? The initial 15-page letter first sent to  Cline  in February 2017 by Reetz-Laiolo's law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP might hold a clue: âWe believe [. . .] that it may be fruitful to engage in a confidential negotiation or mediation to determine whether our clients can reach a resolution with you rather than file our complaint â the letter states.  Cline 's argument doesn't mince words when concluding what the fruitful resolution that interests Reetz-Laiolo could turn out to be  stating his actions were "undoubtedly in the hope of a financial windfall."
One element that both parties can agree on:  Cline  did install spyware on  her  computer. According to  her  complaint   she  installed it while they were together because Reetz-Laiolo used it and  she  wanted to confirm his infidelity. Reetz-Laiolo's argument that  she  tracked his email address after selling him the laptop in 2013  after they were no longer together  hinges on the assumption that  she  somehow updated this software to allow  her  to remotely access it.
David Boies  the founder of the Boies Schiller Flexner firm  was named as an attorney in the February 2017 letter to  Cline   according to a New Yorker article on the firm  though his name does not appear in the complaint filed by Reetz-Laiolo. David Boies has also featured in another New Yorker article reporting that he and his firm worked for Harvey Weinstein to discredit women accusing Weinstein of rape. The early letter  according to the New Yorker  also claimed damages nearing $2 billion and  in a section titled âClineâs History of Manipulating Older Men â attempted to use her sexual history against her.
[TGT] is counter-suing   [TGT]   ex-boyfriend's suit against   [TGT]   alleging that   [TGT]   plagiarized   [TGT]   2016 bestseller The Girls from his own work.
  [TGT]  's novel â which features a 60s-era Manson-like cult as seen from the perspective of its followers â stuck around for 12 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and is the first installment in a three-book Penguin Random House deal that reportedly topped $2 million.
The former boyfriend  Chaz Reetz-Laiolo  alleges   [TGT] installed spyware on  [TGT]  computer before selling it to  [TGT]  in order to record keystrokes on the computer. "Using the spyware " the complaint says  " [TGT]  obtained  [TGT]  email password  which  [TGT]  then used to access and systematically surveil  [TGT]  private email obsessively over a period of years."
However  Emma Cline's complaint calls this "a ludicrous theory" and counters with the claim that this is just the latest in a "two-year assault on   [TGT]  âs mental health and literary reputation" from an abusive Reetz-Laiolo. Any alleged plagiarism  the complaint states  is limited to a "few brief phrases or facts " which are not subject to copyright protection and which don't appear in the published version of the novel. Both parties are requesting the case go to trial.
Most plagiarism cases are tough to prove  and this one is made harder by both the lack of evidence and lack of copyright protections available for most of the instances of alleged plagiarism cited by Reetz-Laiolo. So why file the complaint at all? The initial 15-page letter first sent to  Cline  in February 2017 by Reetz-Laiolo's law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP might hold a clue: âWe believe [. . .] that it may be fruitful to engage in a confidential negotiation or mediation to determine whether our clients can reach a resolution with you rather than file our complaint â the letter states.  Cline 's argument doesn't mince words when concluding what the fruitful resolution that interests Reetz-Laiolo could turn out to be  stating his actions were "undoubtedly in the hope of a financial windfall."
One element that both parties can agree on:  Cline  did install spyware on  her  computer. According to  her  complaint   she  installed it while they were together because Reetz-Laiolo used it and  she  wanted to confirm his infidelity. Reetz-Laiolo's argument that  she  tracked his email address after selling him the laptop in 2013  after they were no longer together  hinges on the assumption that  she  somehow updated this software to allow  her  to remotely access it.
David Boies  the founder of the Boies Schiller Flexner firm  was named as an attorney in the February 2017 letter to  Cline   according to a New Yorker article on the firm  though his name does not appear in the complaint filed by Reetz-Laiolo. David Boies has also featured in another New Yorker article reporting that he and his firm worked for Harvey Weinstein to discredit women accusing Weinstein of rape. The early letter  according to the New Yorker  also claimed damages nearing $2 billion and  in a section titled âClineâs History of Manipulating Older Men â attempted to use her sexual history against her.