The latest step in a process that has been underway for a while, the UK’s Intellectual Property Office published their proposals for changes to the country’s copyright law to provide “greater freedom to use copyright works such as computer games, paintings, photographs, films, books, and music, while protecting the interests of authors and right owners…. These form part of the Government’s response to creating a modern, robust and flexible copyright framework.” Trade publishers will be most focused on the “private copying” rule “to permit people to copy digital content they have bought onto any medium or device that they own, […]
eNews
Macmillan Voluntarily Adopts Their Version of Agency Lite, But Declines to Settle; Library eBooks Are Coming Soon
With trademark candor, Macmillan ceo John Sargent’s year-end letter to authors, illustrators and agents presents more than the usual amount of updates. Counteracting any year-end punditry, Sargent says they “have completed the court-ordered mediation process with the DOJ without any progress toward settlement” and will proceed to trial. He held his letter after Penguin’s settlement was filed yesterday, but :after some long thought, I’m sending you the letter I wrote unchanged. That is because our position has not changed.” Sargent forsees another suit coming, saying that “now even our friends in Canada are taking a look,” and clarifies that their […]
Launches: Digital Noir, Spanish Self-Publishing, Nielsen Consumer Data, and Ruckus Revised
Former editor-in-chief and creative director of the now-defunct LA Times Sunday magazine Nancie Clare and Rip Georges launch their new Kickstarter-backed Noir Magazine in Apple’s App store today (with additional platforms to follow). It’s an iPad magazine for the mystery, thriller, and true crime genres “in all mediums–a thoroughly modern, multi-media immersion into their books, TV, films, graphic novels, and video games.” Megan Abbott is editor at large and many other well-known authors are on the board of advisors and will contribute. The first issue includes an excerpt of Suspect by Robert Crais; Lee Child on bringing Reacher to the […]
People, Etc.
The New York Times‘ first ebook with Byliner, John Branch’s SNOW FALL, which was set for release today, has been postponed. NYT spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha says “it is pegged to a news story that will run in the Times, which was held.” A revised publication date is to be determined. To see the full list of 25 launch titles in their TimesFiles line of ebooks, which did launch today (available for now from Amazon and the iBookstore), visit this page in the NYT Store. Quayside Publishing Group will distribute lines from some of parent company Quarto’s UK lines. They […]
Overlook’s Lawsuit Over MASTER AND MARGARITA eBook Rights Involves Complex Copyright Issue
Looking at the full filing in Overlook Press’s December 6 lawsuit against Daria Shilovskaya and Sergei Shilovskiy asserting the publisher’s right to produce an ebook edition of Mikhail Bulgakov’s THE MASTER AND MARGARITA, the matter is both complex and particular to a legal wrinkle that applies only to books that have had their US copyright restored. The question of essence the suit seeks to answer is whether the ebook version of the translation is a new derivative work, or the continued exploitation of a work that is already permitted. So this case is quite particular to works in translation from […]
New York Times to “Bookify” Archives and Experiment with Short-Form eBook Journalism
The New York Times announced two ebook publishing programs yesterday. The paper is using Vook’s ebook publishing platform to turn curated selections of previously-published articles into ebooks under the TimesFiles imprint, launching a collection of 25 titles next Monday “with many more expected to come in 2013.” Initial titles include The Fall of the Berlin Wall, George Steinbrenner and the Yankees and The Life and Films of John Hughes. Editor for editorial development of the New York Times Gerald Marzorati tells us the TimesFiles line is focused on “simply bookifying our archives.” The second venture is a “collaboration with” Byliner […]