Maria Holly, the widow of the late rock and roller Buddy Holly, is attempting to block publication of a new memoir by Peggy Sue Gerron, the woman who reportedly inspired Mr. Holly’s song “Peggy Sue”. Mrs. Holly says the book harms Mr. Holly’s memory as well as her own reputation. Mrs. Holly controls the rights to the Holly name and other IP rights. Ms. Gerron, the author of What Ever Happened to Peggy Sue?, says the book contains more than just information about her friendship with Mr. Holly. She was also married to a member of Mr. Holly’s band, The Crickets.

Certainly, courts have held that the right to tell one’s own story is protected under the First Amendment. See the cases of Bonome v. Kaysen (2004 WL 1194731), Steinbuch v. Cutler ( and here in a Boston Globe article, and Sonja R. West’s scholarly article, The Story of Me: The Underprotection of Autobiographical Speech.