Publishers' body backs Penguin Random House in Mexico fight over Trevi book
The world’s publishers have taken sides in a Mexican court fight over a book that names pop singer Gloria Trevi.
The International Publishers Association (IPA) said on 19 October 2026 that it fully backs Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial in its appeal against a ruling by Mexico’s copyright agency. The case centres on whether a publisher can name and picture a famous person in a journalistic investigation without that person’s permission.
The book at issue is Todo a la luz (Bringing It All to Light) by Karla de la Cuesta, published in 2024 by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial. It is described as a journalistic investigation into sexual and labour exploitation, and it uses Trevi’s name and image, according to Publishing Perspectives.
Trevi complained to the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, known as IMPI, the federal body that decides copyright and trademark claims. She argued the publisher had breached Mexican copyright law by using her name and image without consent.
In July, IMPI sided with the singer. It ordered the publisher to restrict its use of Trevi’s name and image and imposed a fine.
The publisher calls that order censorship. Quetzalli de la Concha, legal and copyright manager for PRH Grupo Editorial, warned that under IMPI’s reasoning no one could report on or criticise a public figure by name without first getting authorisation.
PRH Grupo Editorial has now sued in the Federal Court of Administrative Justice, known as the TFJA, the court that reviews decisions by federal agencies. The publisher describes Trevi’s complaint as a SLAPP, a lawsuit brought to silence reporting or criticism on a matter of public interest. It argues the book’s use of Trevi’s name and image is protected journalism.
The court has paused the IMPI sanctions while it hears the case.
The IPA, the global federation of publishers’ associations, said it will support the appeal, including through an amicus brief, a filing that lets an outside organisation put context before the court. “The IPA fully supports Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial’s freedom to publish and will back its judicial appeal,” said Jessica Sänger, chair of the IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee, in the IPA statement.
PEN International, the writers’ association, has also called for the IMPI ruling to be overturned. In a statement published on 2 October, titled “Mexico: PEN International calls on Mexican authorities to guarantee editorial freedom and freedom of expression,” it urged protection for editorial freedom.
For readers outside publishing, the question is narrow but important. Article 74 of Mexico’s federal copyright law says using a person’s image without permission is not an infringement, even for commercial purposes, when it is done for information or journalism or in the exercise of free expression. The courts must now decide how that exception applies to books.
The dispute is already cited as an example in the IPA’s 2026 Report on the State of Freedom to Publish Globally, which addresses SLAPPs in Mexico. No final ruling has been reported.
