On Friday, publishing’s big trial came to end–even if an anticlimactic one. Further to our attempt at live transcription on Friday, attached here are the final arguments in full. In his closing, DOJ attorney John Read recognized the “passion” involved in writing and publishing books, but noted that this trial is about business and law. “This is about the largest publisher, Penguin Random House, cementing its position” at the top of the market, he said “which is per se illegal, and the defendants have failed to rebut that presumption.” PRH counsel Daniel Petrocelli continued to assert that the government’s $250,000 advance […]
