• by Ray Schultz , August 11, 2024

The McClatchy Company and Gannett have joined together to file a copyright lawsuit against Ebsco Information Services, an Alabama printer that they allege published a book on Kansas State football that had been abandoned almost 30 years ago, using their content.  

Also listed as a plaintiff is Jeffrey B. Grantham, operator of Wildcat Weekly. 

The book, about Kansas State’s successful 1993 football season, was put together by Michael Bynum, owner of Gridiron Football Properties Corp., in the late fall of 1994. 

Bynum compiled 52 news clippings from McClatchy’s Kansas City Star and 90 images from Gannett’s Topeka Capitol-Journal and Grantham’s Wildcat Weekly. Bynum secured the necessary permissions, wrote the captions and planned to publish the book under his pen name Francis J. Fitzgerald, the complaint continues.

In addition, Bynum supplied Ebsco with floppy disks and a printout of the compiled materials to obtain quotes on designing and printing the work. 

The suit states that Bynum informed Ebsco of his decision to defer the project because of his competing business interests. 

In 2020, Bynum discovered a used copy of the planned book on the AbeBooks.com online bookstore under the title “The Glory of Purple; A Scrapbook History Of The Kansas State Wildcats’ Memorable 1993 and 1994 Seasons.”

The book was printed and published in 1995 by Ebsco Media, the suit charges. A bookstore in Manhattan, Kansas was sent 7,500 of the “counterfeit” books, it continues. 

It is not clear how such a case can be pursued after this length of time. 

The suit, on file with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Southern Division, was first reported by Law.com.