A group of six Illinois journalists, podcasters, and voice actors, including actors who narrate audiobooks, have filed nine separate state lawsuits against Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, ElevenLabs, Adobe, and Samsung for violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which protects individuals’ voice footprints. The class includes: Lindsay Dorcus (narrator for over 200 audiobooks for Penguin Random House, Hachette, Disney, and other publishers); Carol Marin (CBS News, 60 Minutes, Chicago Tonight); Phil Rogers (NBC Chicago, WBBM); Robin Amer (formerly of The Washington Post, USA Today‘s The City podcast, and others); and more. The suits allege that the companies scraped the voices of the actors from the internet […]
Archives for May 2026
TJ Jones, fka WH Smith, Could Go Bankrupt in June if Restructuring Isn’t Approved
TG Jones, the UK bookstore chain that was known as WH Smith before it was acquired by Modella Capital last year, will go bankrupt almost immediately if their restructuring plan isn’t approved by a judge, the Bookseller reports. According to documents obtained by the Bookseller, the retailer will run out of funding “on or around the end of June 2026” and their court date will be on or about June 29. The company’s draconian restructuring plan includes staff layoffs and closing from 100 to 150 of the chain’s 480 locations, as well as “considerable investment in stores.” Eight stores are […]
People 5/15
Announcing the Buzz Books Fall/Winter 2026 Nonfiction Panelists!
Pub day for our forthcoming Buzz Books sampler is Tuesday, May 19, and you’ll be able to download Fall/Winter 2026 wherever you get your ebooks. Join us Thursday, June 4 at 7pm Eastern to hear from six sharp nonfiction authors and editors of upcoming books, hosted by PM’s Mary Ann Naples. Attending the event enters you to win galleys of the panelists’ titles. Eric Idle with Austin Ross on IDLE IN PROVENCE (Harper Select, September 8) Kristin Kobes Du Mez with Dan Gerstle on LIVE LAUGH LOVE (Liveright, September 15) Radha Agrawal with Ariel Curry on HOW TO MAKE A FRIEND (Sourcebooks, October […]
Dylan Thomas Prize
Obituary: Judith Barnard
Judith Barnard, 94, died on May 6 of heart failure, the New York Times reports. Under the pseudonym Judith Michael, Barnard wrote 11 romantic thrillers with her husband Michael Fain, starting with the bestselling Deceptions in 1982. Barnard previously worked as a journalist and in 1967 published the novel The Past and Present of Solomon Sorge under her own name.