In 1983, author William Peter Blatty sued "The New York Times" for $6 million, claiming that his book, "Legion" (filmed as "The Exorcist III"), had not been included in the list due to either negligence or intentional falsehood, saying it should have been included due to high sales. The "Times" countered that the list was not mathematically objective but rather was editorial content and thus protected under the Constitution as free speech. Blatty appealed it to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. Thus, the lower court ruling stood that the list is editorial content, not objective factual content, so the "Times" had the right to exclude books from the list.