The writers of "Shakespeare in Love" were sued in 1999 by bestselling author Faye Kellerman. She claimed that the plotline was stolen from her 1989 novel "The Quality of Mercy", in which Shakespeare romances a Jewish woman who dresses as a man, and attempts to solve a murder. Miramax Films spokesman Andrew Stengel derided the claim, filed in the US District Court six days before the 1999 Academy Awards, as "absurd", and argued that the timing "suggests a publicity stunt". An out-of-court settlement was reached, but the sum agreed between the parties indicates that the claim was "unwarranted".