As we flagged back in May, the US dollar continues to enjoy a stunning increase in value versus the euro in particular, but also against a broad basket of other currencies, including the British pound. As of now the dollar has hit parity with the euro — one dollar buys one euro — for the first time since 2002, shortly after the euro was launched in 1999. With the Federal Reserve expected to raise rates against soon, many traders believe that the parity barrier will be broken and the dollar will continue to move higher still against the euro. The […]
Government Considers Deferred Prosecution Agreement for Bernardini
In late June, US District Court Judge Colleen McMahon agreed to postpone once again last week’s scheduled status conference in the prosecution of accused manuscript thief Filippo Bernardini. The prosecutors told the judge that they are reviewing “a deferred prosecution request” from Bernardini’s counsel. Judge McMahon adjourned the case until September 10, “to facilitate discussions concerning a pre-trial disposition.” A deferred prosecution agreement (commonly called a DPA) is essentially an informal type of probation. The case is deferred by the judge, while the defendant fulfills specified supervision and commitments (which can include fines or penalties). If the terms and conditions […]
Second Quarter Deals
After a strong first quarter — perhaps buoyed by relatively early calendar returns for live versions of the Bologna (March 21) and London (April 5) book fairs — deal reports in the US for the second quarter hewed more closely to the sales pattern for print books as measured by NPD Bookscan. In other words, deal volume was down compared to a record-smashing second quarter in 2021, declining 9.1 percent, but was still well ahead of previous years (and 8 percent better than in 2019, which had been a peak period). And even though total deal volume fell, reported six-figure […]
Publishers and Internet Archive Make Their Arguments In Long-Running Copyright Case
In the long-running publisher lawsuit against the Internet Archive for copyright infringement, both sides submitted motions seeking summary judgement to the court on Thursday night, supplemented by extensive witness declarations. While summary judgment for either side is unlikely, the documents provide an updated look at the case, a little more than two years after it was initiated. And formal arguments before Judge John Koeltl won’t happen until the fall, so any ruling on this early stage of the movement to trial will not occur for some time. (Our apologies in advance for any incompleteness today; the filed documents comprise many […]
Ingram to Launch UK Wholesale Service
Ingram Content Group UK will expand its operations — currently focused on print-on-demand and publisher distribution services — to compete as a trade wholesaler of books. SVP David Taylor tells the Bookseller: “We’re pleased to be able to confirm to the British book trade that Ingram is establishing a UK-based wholesale offer for books for any title that we can supply from our Milton Keynes operations. “We will launch the full service in September 2022. Booksellers who already use Ingram Wholesale from our US base will be able to order using our ipage or EDI ordering systems. We have already had […]
Giuntis Grow Quarto Stake
Since last August, Quarto’s controlling owner CK Lau has been steadily increasing his holdings in the company, building to control of over 50 percent of shares by April. Now, following a sharp falloff in Quarto’s stock price since its peak in late April, Lau’s other major partner the Giunti family of Italy, has added to their stake as well. According to a recent UK securities filing, Montecristo 2019, a holding company associated with Andrea Giunti Lombardo, acquired almost one million shares of Quarto stock this week. With the recent purchases, the Giunti family now has control over approximately 9.1 million […]