Last month, Bertelsmann unveiled the first part of an ambitious digital multi-media subscription service in Germany from their giant broadcasting subsidiary, called RTL+. Starting with a rebranded version of their previous service streaming service, by the second quarter of next year the new multi-media subscription will combine “video, audio, magazine, and book publishing assets” from across Bertelsmann divisions. Bertelsmann ceo Thomas Rabe told FAZ, “Our idea is: one app, all media,” adding that, “There is no other offer like this in the world.” Their goal is 10 million subscriptions by 2026 in Germany and the Netherlands. RTL’s existing video streaming […]
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BN Launches New eReader
Barnes & Noble will launch a GlowLight 4 ereader on December 8. CEO James Daunt insists in the announcement, “Barnes & Noble is now investing significantly in our Nook line of products. The GlowLight 4 is the second Nook device to launch this year as we set about to bring a new family of devices to our customers and to reinvigorate Nook in the coming months and years.” He added, “The team is working steadfastly to develop new NOOK products, and we are delighted to see such a strong pipeline of innovation into 2022.”
Inkitt Raises $59 Million
Berlin-based Inkitt announced another big round of funding, raising $59 million in a Series B (on top of previous rounds that raised at least $21 million). Axel Springer was a co-lead in the new round, with Michael Lynton participating, along with further funding from Stefan von Holtzbrinck (HV Holtzbrinck Ventures participated earlier) among others. The start-up is riding the wave the powered the sales of Wattpad (approximately $600 million), Radish ($440 million), and Tapas Media ($510 million). Inkitt tells TechCrunch their Galatea app has a run rate of over $38 million now. The company uses algorithms to help determine which […]
Substack Chips Away
In a perfect world the steady reporting on Substack and the world of book publishing would feature a stream of all the authors and publishers who turned down the well-financed subscription service’s offers, but that’s not how it works. First came the breaking news in the NY Post that Substack was going “to disrupt book publishing” with the high-profile signing of journalist Zack O’Malley Greenburg for a serialized book, We Are All Musicians Now. Then we learned about at length about the company joining the “burgeoning business” of book content by serializing two chapters of Anand Giridharadas’s book first published […]
Copyright Office Concurs that Maryland’s Library Lending Law Is “Likely…Preempted” By the Copyright Act
Register of Copyrights and director of the US Copyright Office Shira Perlmutter formally responded to US Senate ranking member on the subcommittee on intellectual property Thom Tillis’s request for an analysis of Maryland’s recently-enacted law regulating library lending of ebooks and similar efforts pending on other states. Tillis was clearly looking for confirmation of his inference “that these state legislative efforts would appear to directly conflict with the Copyright Act’s clear language” and “preemption rules that situate copyright law exclusively at the federal level.” Perlmutter concurs, noting, “We conclude that under current precedent, the state laws at issue are likely […]
Earlier Kindle Models Will Get Bricked As Carriers Drop Older Networks
Cellphone carriers are sunsetting their 2G and 3G (and CDMA) networks, which means that a number of older Kindle ereaders will lose their cellphone connectivity. The earliest models will lose their internet connectivity entirely as a result. A number of other models, “from the third-gen Kindle Keyboard all the way to the 8th-gen Kindle Oasis,” will lose their cell-based service but at least retain wifi capability. Amazon notified customers of the coming changes by email and is providing a $50 credit towards a new device and and $15 in ebook credits.