Archives for March 2026
Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Slash Requested Legal Fees in Anthropic Suit; 350,000 Works Claimed So Far
Plaintiffs lawyers in the Anthropic lawsuit have reduced their request for attorney fees significantly, from $300 million (or 20 percent of the total award) down to $187.5 million, or 12.5 percent of the $1.5 billion settlement. They also request “a cost reserve for future expenses, the vast majority of which—an estimated $15 million” will go to the settlement administrator, JND Legal. Anthropic and the case’s judges accused the attorneys of inflating their request to compensate three additional law firms, two of which were asked by class counsel to help facilitate publishers’ involvement and one of which “advised on copyright law […]
Scribner Will Reprint Don DeLillo’s Hockey Novel
Scribner will publish a new edition of Don DeLillo‘s hockey novel AMAZONS on November 17. Originally published in 1980 under the pseudonym Cleo Birdwell, the book follows, the “erotic exploits of the first woman to play in the National Hockey League.” Since its publication, DeLillo has renounced the novel, removing it from his bibliography. He did not publicly acknowledge being its author until 2020. The name Cleo Birdwell will remain on the cover as the author. DeLillo reportedly resisted offers to reissue the novel for years. “He was so against republishing,” his literary agent Robin Straus tells the Times. “Lots […]
Scholastic Sales Slip in the Third Quarter; Announces Big Share Repurchase and Dutch Auction
Scholastic reported results from its third quarter, ended February 28, with sales down 2 percent to $329 million. Operating loss increased 13 percent to $(26.9) million and operating loss before one-time items was down 16 percent to $(24.3) million. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $0 from $6 million, attributed to the sale-leaseback transactions on their properties. At the same time, the company announced a $200 million “modified Dutch auction tender offer,” buying back shares at a price range of between $36 to $40 per share. That auction is part of a new $300 million repurchase plan, with “the remaining portion of […]
Hachette Cancels ‘Shy Girl’ For Being AI Generated
Hachette Book Group has canceled the planned US publication of horror novel SHY GIRL by Mia Ballard. The New York Times reported that they approached the publisher with “evidence” that the novel was largely written using AI, and thereafter the title was removed from bookselling sites. But HBG says that Orbit “decided to cancel the book…prior to article.” The novel, which was published by Hachette UK in the fall of 2025, was previously self-published and follows “a desperate young woman who is held hostage by a man she met online and forced to live as his pet.” It was due […]