A lawsuit alleging that celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley used another author’s work without permission in her book about the family of President Bush has been dropped, after the plaintiff decided that he was likely to lose the case on a technicality. “Under federal law, if a copyright holder fails to register with the office before an alleged infringement takes place, the holder is limited in the damages and lawyer’s fees he can recover.” Kelley has always maintained that her use of material from the other author’s web site was legal under the “fair use” doctrine.