BookWars Filmmaker Jason Rosette, under his Camerado banner, has publicly challenged Penguin Random House (PRH) for the improper use of content from his 1999 documentary BookWars in their book The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss, published by Viking, a PRH imprint.

PRH counsel so far has declined the copyright owner’s request to cease and desist abuse of his intellectual property.

Penguin Copyright Challenge: Backstory

The issue centers on Chapter 11: The Sidewalk, which contains verbatim depictions of scenes and characters from BookWars, a film exploring the lives of New York City street booksellers, used without permission.

In late February 2025, a former media librarian alerted Rosette to similarities between BookWars and Chapter 11 of The Bookshop.

“I was shocked to open that chapter in Friss’s book, The Bookshop, to find verbatim extracts from my film, with no apparent citation at all—so any unwitting reader would think that content was the work of the book’s author, when it wasn’t,” Rosette said. “Even with the partial endnote citations the author has included in the back of his book, that still doesn’t confer the right to use my copyrighted material, verbatim and virtually verbatim, in an untransformed way.

That’s not fair use—that’s outright misappropriation.”

The issue extends beyond attribution. Multiple sections and key moments from BookWars were lifted verbatim without transformative use.

Partial citations located in an endnotes section at the back of the book fail to clarify authorship within the text, creating an overwhelming impression for readers that the content was created by Friss.

Copyright law requires explicit permission for substantial use of protected material, which was neither sought nor granted.

Rosette, easily contactable via a simple Google search for “Jason Rosette,” was not approached by PRH or Friss prior to publication.

An Ongoing Challenge

BookWars was formally registered with the US Copyright Office in 1999.

On June 13, 2025, Rosette sent a cease-and-desist letter to PRH’s SVP Associate General Counsel, Linda Friedner, requesting removal of BookWars content from all versions of The Bookshop (print, ebook, audiobook) by July 25, 2025, and sought updated versions without BookWars content in circulation by August 8, 2025.

PRH’s June 19 acknowledgment offered no resolution. On July 3, 2025, Friedner proposed adding a reference to BookWars in the text but declined to remove any content, a response Rosette deems insufficient and misaligned with the reasonable timeline outlined in his June 13 letter.

“It seems that Penguin Random House champions copyright when defending its own titles, yet their actions here suggest they’ll abandon those principles when convenient,” Rosette added.

“This selective enforcement undermines the very foundation the publishing industry claims to protect.”

Industry-Wide Ramifications

The case raises broader concerns about ethical practices in publishing. The lack of in-line citations and failure to secure permissions not only misrepresents authorship but also sets a troubling precedent for creators’ rights.

Rosette is calling for the publishing industry to prioritize proper permissions, ethical practices, and consistent copyright standards over mere citations.

About Jason Rosette
Jason Rosette is a filmmaker and the creator of BookWars, a documentary celebrated for its authentic portrayal of New York City’s street bookselling community. Registered with the US Copyright Office in 1999, BookWars remains a significant work in contemporary independent cinema

Media Contact
Jason Rosette
Email: camerado@camerado.com
Website: http://www.camerado.com