Judge halts "Catcher in the Rye" spin-off for now

NEW YORK, June 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday temporarily halted publication of a novel using characters from J.D. Salinger's classic "Catcher in the Rye" written without the original author's permission.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts issued a temporary restraining order against publication for 10 days at which time she would rule on whether it can be published or whether the case should go to trial.

The case involves a book entitled "60 Years Later: Coming through the Rye" written by a Swedish author, Fredrik Colting, under the nom de plume J.D. California that was due to come out later this year.

Salinger, 90, who has lived for decades out of the public eye, sued this month to block its publication.

"This is a case where a sequel has been created without the author's permission," Salinger's lawyer, Marcia Paul, told the judge in arguments before her ruling.

Paul said the case was about the right to keep Holden Caulfield, the main character of the 1951 classic, "frozen" under Salinger's copyright.

But a lawyer for the author and his Swedish publisher Nicotext argued the book came under a fair use exception because it was literary commentary or parody.

"Over the past 60 years he may have become famous ... but that doesn't make him a specially copyrighted character," Edward Rosenthal said of Holden Caulfield.

"This book does comment on 'Catcher in the Rye' and J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield," Rosenthal said.

Batts heavily questioned Rosenthal, at one point saying, "What you took from the book is substantial."

Salinger was not present in court. (Reporting by Christine Kearney; Editing by Alan Elsner and Daniel Trotta)