A European Court of Justice ruling in a case over an English pub owner who used a Greek decoder to let her access less expensive Greek broadcasts of Premier League soccer games may have an unusual application: It could settle once and for all the disagreements between US and UK publishers over how to handle open-market English-language exports into continental Europe. That’s because the ruling appears to limit territorial rights limitations within Europe. As interpreted by attorney C.E. Petit on his blog Scrivener’s Error, the court has said that “an identical work can essentially only be licensed once for redistribution […]
International News
Lonely Planet Founders Buy Canongate’s Stake in Text Publishing
Founders of Lonely Planet Maureen and Tony Wheeler have bought Canongate’s stake in Text Publishing for an undisclosed sum. Michael Heyward and Penny Hueston, who bought Text in tandem with Canongate in 2004 and created a joint venture whereby Text also published Canongate titles in Australia, will retain their share in the company and Heyward will stay on as publisher and managing director. Heyward added that Text and Canongate “will continue to work closely together to acquire books and authors.” “Our decision to sell our stake in Text was a strategic one that will enable us to focus more of our […]
Julian Assange WikiLeaks Canongate
It will come as no great surprise that Julian Assange has released correspondence with Canongate and purported transcripts of apparently-taped phone calls with Canongate publisher Jamie Byng. Though Canongate published the unauthorized draft in part due to admitted “financial imperative,” according to an email from Assange’s agent Caroline Michel, by going ahead with publication, Canongate now is obligated to pay Assange, “in accordance with the agreement, the remaining amounts of £225,000 on delivery of the complete manuscript and £175,000 on first UK publication.” (That should provide enough to pay back Knopf and still leave some for Assange.) As we noted […]
People: Sevier Promoted to EIC at Dutton, Rinaldi Leaves Rodale, and More
Ben Sevier has been promoted to editor-in-chief at Dutton, effective Octboer 3. He has been there for almost five years. President and publisher Brian Tart says, “I know from both authors and agents how much of an advocate Ben is for his writers. He gets the best out of them, every time. He believes in the power of a good story and he finds innovative ways to reach the widest possible audience for each of his books. I can’t think of a better person to lead our editorial efforts than Ben Sevier.” Rodale evp and general manager of the books […]
eNews: Bloomsbury Reader Launches To Rescue OOP Works
As announced in May, Bloomsbury has launched their digital and POD imprint for out-of-print works, Bloomsbury Reader. Called a “digital global publisher,” their initial list of roughly 560 books focuses on authors and estates represented by their “founder partner” PFD/The Rights House, though they continue to invite the participation of other estates and agencies. Ingram has a new partnership with logistics company SBS Worldwide to provide their client publishers with greater supply chain visibility on their titles. The two companies will “also consolidate on major freight lanes and offer competitive rates on global transportation.” Kobo announced a new update to […]
The Next Question on Assange Autobiography
After all of last week’s media attention–and ethical questions–over Canongate’s publication of their Julian Assange book against the author’s wishes, driven by the publisher’s admitted “financial imperative,” the serial fees from the Independent may turn out to be among the title’s leading sources of income. After its first three days on-sale, BookScan UK reports the book has sold just 644 copies, making it the 50th bestselling hardcover and the 537th bestselling book overall for that week. At Amazon UK the printed book (ranked 681) and the Kindle edition (ranked 1,176) continue to slide. That reception may also influence international publishers […]