The final deadline for filing objections to the Google Books Settlement has now passed, and the District Court’s web site shows a wave of new filings, mostly objections. The Computer & Communications Industry Associates filed a brief in support of the agreement, while new objectors include Microsoft and Yahoo, the state of Connecticut, a group of authors led by Harold Bloom, the Internet Archive, the Open Book Alliance (accusing the parties of “a trail of what can only be called misdirection”), Consumer Watchdog, 22 Japanese authors who are key members of the Japan P.E.N. Club, a coalition of authors and […]
Archives for September 2009
Briefs: Amazon's Amends; Robert Jordan eBooks; Pullman on Christ; Another Traditional Party Cancelled
* Over a month after violating its own terms of use and deleting unauthorized versions of George Orwell books from Kindle owners’ machines, on one of the quietest news days of the year Amazon e-mailed customers offering financial amends. The NYT reported that Amazon offering to give customers replacement copies of 1984 and Animal Farm, along with restoring any deleted personal annotations. Alternately, they are offering a gift certificate or check for $30. Though the article doesn’t address this, presumably the belated offer is designed in part to moot litigation that was filed against the etailer following the deletions.NYT * […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, September 7
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Jacob Ritari’s TAROKO GORGE, the story of three Japanese girls who […]
People: Blake to Holt, and More
Gillian Blake will join Holt’s adult unit as executive editor on September 21, focusing on “high profile nonfiction acquisitions.” Most recently she had been executive editor at Collins until that unit was reorganized earlier this year. Stacia Decker has joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency as an agent. A former editor at Harcourt and Otto Penzler Books, she is representing mystery, suspense, noir, and crimefiction. Former longtime editor for Word Publishing and Thomas Nelson Laura Kendall died of pneumonia last week in Nashville, Tennessee. Kendall, who was still freelancing, had retired from Nelson in 2005, after two decades of editing […]
Booker Shortlist Announced
The six finalists for the prize–with the winner to be named October 6–are: A S Byatt, The Children’s Book (Chatto and Windus)J M Coetzee, Summertime (Harvill Secker)Adam Foulds, The Quickening Maze (Jonathan Cape)Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall (Fourth Estate)Simon Mawer, The Glass Room (Little Brown UK)Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger (Virago) Release
FTC Says Google Books Should Have Privacy Plan–and Google Posts One
The Federal Trade Commission said in a letter to Google on Thursday that the company should be “limiting secondary uses of data collected through Google Books, including uses that would be contrary to reasonable consumer expectations.” David Vladeck, head of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, wrote that “we also agree that it is important for Google to develop a new privacy policy, specific to Google Books, that will apply to the current product, set forth commitments for future related services and features, and preserve commitments made in the existing privacy policy.” Separately, FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said “the Google Books […]