The American Booksellers Association convened a virtual version of their annual meeting and town hall — usually held at Book Expo — on Thursday afternoon. One traditional element was missing however, the updated statistics on the number of ABA members. Board president Jamie Fiocco said in her report, “We were in the middle of renewals when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, so with dues suspended, we do not have membership numbers right now.” Fiocco had opened the meeting by reading a statement from the board: “I’d like to say that we are saddened and horrified by our country’s violence towards people […]
Internet Archive Will Suspend Massive Infringement Two Weeks Early, But Continues to Misrepresent
Following the filing of a lawsuit by four major publishers at the beginning of June over the Internet Archive’s “willful mass copyright infringement,” the IA will at least “close” their self-proclaimed National Emergency Library two weeks earlier than originally announced, on June 16. “We moved up our schedule because, last Monday, four commercial publishers chose to sue Internet Archive,” which is widely considered to have no viable legal defense for the uncontrolled digital lending they initiated in late March. They will try to defend their self-invented practice of controlled digital lending — the core principles of which they violated at […]
Bolton’s Lawyer Says White House Is Trying to “Use National Security as a Pretext to Censor” Him
John Bolton’s book THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED has been shipped to warehouses and distribution centers in advance of its June 23 publication date. But deputy White House counsel John Eisenberg claims “the current draft still contains classified material” and says the National Security Council will provide a redacted copy of the manuscript on or before June 19. Bolton’s attorney Charles Cooper writes in the WSJ about the extensive process of review and revision that Bolton went through with Ellen Knight, the NSC’s senior director for prepublication review of materials. By Cooper’s account, on April 27, Knight confirmed to Bolton […]
More Pushback: Tattered Cover Apologizes For Position of Proud Non-Engagement
Denver bookstore The Tattered Cover drew considerable criticism online from authors and booksellers after it had posted a statement on June 6.While declaring, “We agree with, embrace, and believe that black lives matter,” the owners said, but their higher value was a “nearly 50-year policy of not engaging in public debate. Our value to the community is to provide a place where access to ideas, and the free exchange of ideas, can happen in an uninhibited way. It’s not for us to determine which ideas in the pages on our shelves are valid and which are not.” They said taking stands […]
Bolton Reportedly Will Publish Without Clearance; John Dean on Trump
Brave John Bolton is determined to have his book THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED published on June 23, most likely without receiving clearance and approval from the government. The Washington Post first reported on Bolton’s plans, which include media appearances for the week before the release, and a source confirmed to CNN that Bolton has “already scheduled network interviews to promote the book.” Washington-based national security attorney Mark Zaid, who likes to weigh in on cases like this when he doesn’t represent the author, wrote on Twitter: “If Govt deems even one word classified, #Bolton can be prosecuted. Regardless, failure […]
Deal Volume Holds, As Investment Declines
A month ago we showed that April dealmaking volume in the US was relatively strong, following a big dropoff in the second half of March. The total number of reported six-figure deals was relatively strong as well looking at March and April combined, running only 4 deals (or 4.6 percent) below the average from the previous four years. The biggest change was a sharp decline in the biggest, or major, deals. May statistics tell a similar story, though with more erosion across all six-figure or better deals. Total US deal volume was stable, down 2 percent compared to May 2019, […]