Google finally got their chance to speak in their own voice (or at least their attorney’s voice) to the many objections raised over the proposed settlement with the Authors Guild, the AAP, and others in a brief filed yesterday with the court. In places the filing all but sneers at “many of those complaining about the settlement’s terms [who] are not themselves class members.” The overwhelming focus of Google’s arguments is on rebutting points raised in the recent opinion from the Justice Department, suggesting that is the primary set of arguments that Google believes might carry any weight with the […]
eNews
USA Today Adds Barnes & Noble and Sony eBook Data
USA Today has extended their leadership role as the first major national bestseller list to include Kindle sales data with today’s announcement that they will also incorporate digital sales information from both Barnes & Noble and Sony’s estores.
Scribd's Mobile Plans
The WSJ reports on Scribd’s long-discussed plans to make their document files portable to all manner of e-readers and mobile devices like iPhones. As they note, the site is “trying to become the universal adaptor for e-readers.” (A little like Google’s let-us-run-your-ebook-cloud strategy.) The Journal says iRex and Cool-er have approved the new efforts, and “an Amazon spokesman said the company approved the addition of a Kindle button to Scribd, but declined to comment further.” The feature will work with nook and Sony’s Readers, “but only when those devices are plugged directly into a computer and the user manually drags […]
Make eBooks Cheap, Or Grandpa Will Steal Them
It’s tempting to dismiss today’s NYT piece on ebook readers preference to pay less money for titles for the unsubstantial work that it is. But since it runs in the Times, some people will automatically take it seriously, despite the anecdotal reporting and absence of any data. (Not that none exists–but there’s no mention here of recently-presented findings on price sensitivity from the BISG and Verso surveys, or Kobo’s presentation that they sell almost as many ebooks at prices greater than $9.99 than they do at $9.99 itself, or the informal accounts of agents who have seen pricing data presented […]
Vook Pairs with Anne Rice, and Janklow & Nesbit
Vook will publish a version of Anne Rice’s vampire short story The Master of Rampling Gate (originally published in Redbook in 1984, and released later as an audiobook), available March 1. In announcing the new product, Vook also says it has a “relationship” with Rice’s agency, Janklow & Nesbit. A spokesman said that means Vook has “an ongoing partnership” with the literary agency, with “additional titles to come from other authors” that they represent.
Justice Still Has Problems with Revised Google Books Settlement–Calls for Continued Discussions
You can, and probably have, read in your venue of choice that the Department of Justice filed a new brief yesterday with Judge Denny Chin in which they still have certain problems with the revised Google Books Settlement, and those accounts nearly all dutifully declare the filing yet “another blow” to this sweeping plan. What you won’t read in most of these places is that it had to be expected that Justice would still raise issues. The revised settlement quite consciously addressed some but not all of the government’s concerns, and it would have been unrealistic to expect the government […]