eNews

Google Books announced on their Inside Google Books blog that they will allow up to seven different types of Creative Commons licenses to be attributed to titles included in the program, Books that rightsholders have made available under a CC license will be marked with a matching logo on the book’s left hand navigation bar. In return, “people who download these books agree to use the work only in ways specified by the license, like giving proper credit to the author on any remixes or further public distributions.”Google Books Blog Meanwhile the newest group to oppose the settlement is the […]

Following news that WME was advising clients to opt out of the Google Books settlement, the Authors Guild posted an advisory asserting “several errors that are likely to sow some confusion.” They write: “William Morris’s principal mistake is that it appears to think that the uses that the settlement permits Google to make are interminable.  This leads the agency to draw a series of erroneous conclusions…. Most fundamentally, it leads the agency to conclude that authors are limited in their dealings with Google to the settlement’s terms, unless the court changes those terms. It’s wrong, on all counts.” The Guild […]

On the Google Settlement: Washington Post (for), William Morris Endeavor (Against-ish)On Saturday the Washington Post weighed in with their long-awaited editorial on the Google Books Settlement. They like it on the whole (“settlement is in many ways better for consumers than the possible outcome of litigation”) though think the clause that blocks the Registry “from offering a better deal to any of the company’s competitors within its first 10 years” is curious and wish it weren’t there. But what does it say that the editorial board doesn’t understand the settlement correctly in the first place? They believe that the Registry […]

The AP reports on publishers going out of their way to offer free e-books from established authors’ backlist in order to tempt buyers on frontlist items, even as they are quick to label such moves as an opportunity to experiment with pricing issues still a thorny topic. The top three Kindle bestsellers in recent days are James Patterson’s THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT, Joseph Finder’s PARANOIA and Greg Keyes’ THE BRIAR KING – all free, all available a few years earlier. “I like the notion of introducing people to one book, while promoting the sales of another,” Patterson said, adding that “thousands […]

Following the widespread leak of manuals and pictures of its two new readers, Sony moved up the official announcement. The main news is that, still with no wireless, they are hoping price will move the needle for them. Their Sony Reader Pocket, with a 5-inch screen, will sell for $199, while the Sony Reader Touch will have a 6-inch touchscreen and sell for $299. It has both a virtual keyboard and a separate stylus. Their other big idea is to match Amazon and Barnes & Noble on the price of selected books, also offering “new releases and NYT bestsellers” at […]