In mid-April, Judge Denise Cote rejected all of the substantive motions to dismiss a class action suit brought by author/customers against Author Solutions, and the suit will move forward. The parties will proceed to discovery and will submit a proposed pre-trial schedule to the court. One claim of unjust enrichment based on unpaid royalties was dismissed on technical grounds (and is covered by the other claims that are going forward), and corporate parent Penguin was dismissed as a direct party in the litigation — even though corporately, Penguin Random House is ultimately responsible for any judgment against the subsidiary, and […]
Archives for April 2014
Frankfurt Confirms Moving English-Language Publishers to Hall 6 in 2015
The Frankfurt Book Fair has confirmed in public what fair officials have been discussing privately (and thoroughly) with some of their biggest customers since the October 2013 show: The current English-language exhibition space, Hall 8, will be abandoned as of the 2015 fair, and those publishers will move into the multiple (but smaller) floors of Hall 6. That hall will also continue to include the busy Agents Center — though the agents and scouts will move up to the fourth floor (6.3). Recently, they have been on the ground floor. Note clearly that these changes will not affect the upcoming […]
Corporate News: A Food52 Imprint, F+W Rebrands, Time Home Entertainment Sales Go In-House
Food52, the social website for cooks founded by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, will set up a cookbook imprint at Ten Speed Press called Food52 Works. Hesser and Stubbs will be involved “in shaping the development and direction” of the line, for which Ten Speed associate publisher Hannah Rahill will be general editor. The initiative delivers on the promise the site made a year ago to “expand our publishing platform through an innovative partnership with Random House Inc.,” after Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments was a significant contributor to a $2 million financing round for Food52. The line expects to publish […]
Gerritsen Sues Warner Bros. Over Credit on Film GRAVITY
On Tuesday Tess Gerritsen filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. in a Los Angeles US District Court over credit and net profit participation on the “Gravity” movie, which she says was at least partly based on her 1999 novel of the same name. Rather than the typical copyright infringement claim in many movie source disputes, Gerritsen charges the studio with breach of contract. Her 47-page complaint asserts that in accordance with the sale of movie rights to her novel GRAVITY prior to publication in 1999 for $1 million, she is owed a production bonus of $500,000, 2.5 percent of “defined net proceeds,” and […]
Harper and Open Road Go Back to Court On JULIE OF THE WOLVES
The US District Court has now published the update submitted jointly by HarperCollins and Open Road last Friday on the next step in the Julie of the Wolves ebook case. The two companies “have to date been unable to reach a resolution” with respect to the right to license the ebook edition of Jean Craighead George’s JULIE OF THE WOLVES and any damages, six weeks after Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald ruled in Harper’s favor. As previously ordered, they submitted a briefing schedule instead, which Judge Buchwald has accepted. Harper will file its opening brief on an injunction and other remedies […]
People, Etc.
Former longtime Random House publicity executive Barb Burg died on Tuesday, at 50. Burg rose from a publicity assistant at Bantam Books in 1986 to svp, director of publicity and public relations for the Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group. In 2011, she took a position as director of global communications for Reuters News. A funeral will be held on Thursday, May 1 at 10 AM at Temple Beth Abraham, 25 Leroy Avenue, Tarrytown, NY. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in memory of Barbara Burg Schieffelin to Camp Ta-KumTa, a summer camp for children afflicted with cancer: PO […]