For a long time at least some publishers have licensed photographs for books under terms that cover a specified maximum number of copies only, without rigorously revisiting those limits for compliance later on. As Photo District News reports, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s textbook division has been the focus of “30 copyright infringement claims over the past five years in federal courts” from photographers and others. At least three of the claims have been thrown out of court based on a finding of improper copyright registration, and there have been settlements in “about 20″ of those cases so far.” They write: “In […]
Archives for November 2010
People
Former longtime director of rights and contracts at McClelland & Stewart Marilyn Biderman has opened an eponymous literary agency, based in Toronto, and is out with her first submission in both the US and Canada: French-Canadian Marguerite Pigeon’s debut novel OPEN PIT. Biderman says she will represent genre, commercial and literary fiction, along with narrative nonfiction and memoir and “the occasional expert as a client as well.” In deciding her next step in publishing, Biderman says, “I really looked at what was important to me and where my allegiances lie. It’s always been with the publishing process and protecting the […]
Bookselling: New Owners for Children’s Store; Preserving Stores North of Boston
Jill Stefanovich and Jenesse Evertson, both buyers at Narnia Children’s Books in Richmond, VA, bought the store this fall after a deal to sell the store to someone else fell through and it faced closure. They have renamed it BBGB, which is “purposefully cryptic,” though it officially stands for Bring Back Great Books.Richmond Times Dispatch Following the closure of Cornerstone Books in Salem, MA, the Boston Globe looks at efforts to survive and prosper among bookstores in the North Shore area, where “about 30 independent booksellers open their doors every day in communities north of Boston, including a few in […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, November 29
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 Presidential fellow at Ohio State University Claire Vaye Watkins’s BATTLEBORN, a […]
NYT Critics’ Picks and More Lists
The New York Times has posted lists of top ten books from their individaul book critics, along with the NYTBR’s list of 100 notable books: From Michiko Kakutani: Nonfiction LIFE by Keith Richards with James Fox CLEOPATRA: A LIFE by Stacy Schiff LETTERS by Saul Bellow. Edited by Benjamin Taylor FRANK: THE VOICE by James Kaplan CRISIS ECONOMICS: A CRASH COURSE IN THE FUTURE OF FINANCE by Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm YOU ARE NOT A GADGET: A MANIFESTO by Jaron Lanier Fiction SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY by Gary Shteyngart FREEDOM by Jonathan Franzen THE LOST BOOKS OF THE […]
Gawker Settles with Harper
HarperCollins announced Tuesday night that they have “reached an agreement with Gawker resolving the lawsuit” filed over the web site’s pre-publication posting of 21 pages from Sarah Palin’s just-released book AMERICA BY HEART. The publisher says “Gawker has agreed to keep the posted material off its web site and not to post the material again in the future.” Harper indicates that Judge Thomas Griesa, who issued the temporary restraining order on Saturday, said in an opinion released Monday that “the purpose of the copyright law is to prevent the kind of copying that has taken place here.” They say he […]