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Last to Settle Pays the Most: Penguin Agrees to Pay Over $90 Million to Settle eBook Pricing Suits

by on May 22, 2013 in DOJ, Free, Legal

Penguin's hard-to-fathom delay in settling the state and class-action lawsuits over ebook pricing (after settling with the Department of Justice in December 2012) was down to the wire, with the company forced to join in the trial starting June 3. But on Wednesday, it was announced that the publisher has…

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More From Court: Penguin Federal Settlement Is Approved

by on May 20, 2013 in DOJ, Legal

On Friday, Judge Denise Cote granted entry of final judgment, approving the federal government's settlement with Penguin in their ebook pricing case. That increases the likelihood that Penguin will move to "agency lite" pricing of their ebooks sometime soon. But we don't know that for sure. It took about two…

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Apple Presses to Make Public Documents "Potentially Embarrassing to Amazon"

by on May 20, 2013 in DOJ, Legal

Legally Apple is being sued by the government, but procedurally the company continues to act as if the real battle is with Amazon. As we reported last Friday, Apple's proposed findings of fact filing indicates that Amazon sent a "White Paper" about agency ebook pricing to the Department of Justice…

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Amazon Sent DOJ "White Paper" On Agency Days After iBookstore Launched

by on May 17, 2013 in DOJ

The documents keep coming in the lead up to the June 3 trial in the ebook pricing case. The latest include Apple's "proposed findings of fact," which lays out through Apple's eyes the timetable of discussions and negotiations with publishers in December 2009 and January 2010 that led to the creation…

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Preparing for Trial: New Documents and Details from the DOJ

by on May 15, 2013 in DOJ, Legal

The Department of Justice has organized and called attention to a raft of recently filed documents in connection with the pending June 3 trial in the ebook price fixing case, and the official court docket has still more documents -- hundreds of pages worth -- from Apple, Penguin, the States…

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Apple Wins One From Judge Cote

by on May 9, 2013 in eNews, Legal

The ebook pricing case against Apple does not go before US District Court Judge Denise Cote until June 3, but the computer giant has just won another case presented to the same judge. Cote granted summary judgment in Apple's favor in a trademark case brought by Brick Tower Press over…

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Briefs: Court Hears Google Authors Guild Appeal, and More

by on May 8, 2013 in Authors, ebookstores, eNews, eReaders, International News, Legal

For avid court watchers, this morning the Federal Court of Appeals was scheduled to hear oral arguments in the fight over whether to certify the author class in the long-running suit brought by the Authors Guild over Google's book scanning. Last year Judge Denny Chin approved certification of the class,…

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Harlequin Cuts Jobs On Weak Quarter; Authors Appeal Royalty Lawsuit

by on May 8, 2013 in Earnings Reports, Legal, Publishers

Harlequin sales fell 4 percent in the first quarter, down $4 million to $102.5 million (CA) , with operating profit declining 27 percent to $14.9 million, falling $5.6 million in the period. Parent company Torstar had a similar weak overall quarter, and announced further restructuring in both the book publishing…

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Legal: More on Harper Lee Lawsuit; Hagar Cleared Over 2011 Defamation Suit

by on May 7, 2013 in Legal

Updating our Monday story on the Harper Lee copyright lawsuit, the full complaint depicts the alleged depths of the scheme that Samuel Pinkus is said to have engaged in, along with Lee Ann Winick and Gerald Posner, to mislead Lee and her publishers about the copyright status of TO KILL A…

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Harper Lee Sues to Recover Money from Fired Agent, In Latest Battle Over Pinkus's Split with McIntosh & Otis

by on May 5, 2013 in Legal

As was widely (if not always accurately) reported over the weekend, Harper Lee filed suit on May 2 in New York Federal Bankruptcy Court to recover royalties for TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD allegedly still being collected improperly by Sam Pinkus. She seeks all commissions collected by Pinkus since 2007, plus…

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