In a terse reply filed on in the Manhattan District Court Thursday via attorneys Boni & Zack, Open Road has answered HarperCollins’ claims that their ebook of Jean Craighead George’s JULIE OF THE WOLVES infringes Harper’s rights under copyright law. The essence of their reply is that “Open Road admits that the contract grants HarperCollins the right to publish Julie of the Wolves ‘in book form,’ but denies that such grant encompasses the right to publish the work as an e-book.” They deny that “HarperCollins ever intended to publish Julie of the Wolves as an e-book, and it is denied […]
eNews
Corporate: F+W Bolsters eCommerce and Crafts; Publishers Win Injunctions Against Piracy Site
Expanding on a joint venture created in the middle of last year, F+W Media has acquired The Martha Pullen Company, an ecommerce provider, event producer, and content company in the sewing and craft category, from Hoffman Media. Ceo David Nussbaum says in the release, “This is an important strategic acquisition for F+W, as we move more directly into the hard goods product fulfillment arena by offering these goods through our ecommerce stores. Now with the addition of a wealth of sewing information, instruction, and materials we can more fully serve the craft enthusiast community…. The acquisition represents our largest ecommerce […]
Amazon Updates
In the daily Amazon news, the company is said to be negotiating for part of a 12.5 acre parcel of land next to their South Lake Union headquarters in Seattle in order to expand. Research firm OTR Global has echoed a report from Digitimes in January, saying that information from Asias component suppliers indicates that first quarter “component orders for Amazon’s Kindle Fire and ereaders are down significantly…due to abundant inventory of finished product in the supply chain.” Separately, market research firm IHS iSuppli estimates Amazon shipped 3.9 million Fires in the fourth quarter–lower than many analyst guesses–and said that […]
eNews: Dutton Relaunches Guilt-Edged Mysteries As Digital Imprint
Dutton will join the digital imprint movement later this summer by relaunching its Dutton Guilt-Edged Mysteries line, which published hardboiled and noir titles from 1947 to 1956, as an ebook-only venture. The new program, overseen by Dutton editor-in-chief Ben Sevier, will publish stories and novellas ranging between 10,000 and 50,000 words on a monthly basis and will launch with NPR news editor Krishnadev Calamur’s debut novella Murder in Mumbai. “The re-launch of Dutton Guilt-Edged Mysteries is a fitting tribute to Mickey Spillane, one of the 20th century’s bestselling and most beloved novelists,” Sevier said in a statement. The new imprint […]
Inkling Launches New Authoring Tools With Habitat
At Tools of Change Tuesday morning e-textbook firm Inkling announced the details of its new free cloud-based authoring tool Habitat, which will allow for the creation of interactive digital content for tablet computers and for the Web when it’s widely available later this year. Habitat will allow publishers to produce and publish content that includes guided tours, 3-D exhibits, interactive quizzes, and high definition video, in addition to text. Inkling calls Habitat the “only strictly schematic publishing platform” as part of its attempt to employ a software-based (and evidently, more rapid) model of publishing. But of course it joins a […]
UK Conglomerate Acquires Aptara for $150 Million, and More Corporate News
Washington, DC-area-based Aptara has been acquired for an enterprise value of approximately $150 million by iEnergizer Limited, a public conglomerate listed on the London Stock Exchange, with “wide-ranging investments in business process outsourcing, oil and gas, and real estate.” ($5 million of the purchase price will be held in escrow for 12 months.) iEnergizer is funding the acquision primarily through a new $114 million short-term loan facility. As of a year ago (the end of 2010), Aptara had revenues of $66 million and operating profit of $10.1 million. iEnergizer board chair Sara Latham says in the announcement, “As the only […]