The UK will not change its rules for copyright exhaustion of intellectual property, for now. The government’s Intellectual Property Office has closed its consultation on the possibility of parallel trade, which would allow print books to be resold internationally without publisher permission (which is the law of the land in the US). “Unfortunately, there is not enough data available to understand the economic impact of any of the alternatives to the current UK+ regime,” the IPO stated. “As a result, it has not been possible to make a decision based on the criteria originally intended. However, the government remains committed […]
International News
Vivendi Moves Up Timetable and Will Launch Tender Offer to Acquire Lagardere
Though Vivendi was previously awaiting regulatory approval from the French government for their acquisition of Amber Capital’s 17.5 percent stake in Lagardere — originally expecting the deal to close by December 15 — the company has decided it does not need to wait any longer. “Recent analyses carried out by Vivendi have led the company to consider that this acquisition could take place now since, in accordance with applicable rules on the control of concentrations.” Vivendi says it will not exercise the voting rights attached to Amber shares “until the approvals required for the acquisition of the control of Lagardère […]
Hachette UK’s Shelley Expects Supply Chain Challenges to Continue
Hachette UK CEO David Shelley told authors in his annual letter that supply chain challenges have been “the most extreme that I have seen in my 24 years in publishing” and he notes that “it is clear that these will be ongoing issues and that 2022 will be marked by them.” While some of their issues have been exacerbated by Brexit, other elements are shared by US publishers: “One of the issues our team have been grappling with is a worldwide shortage of paper. Due to unexpected surges in sales in all markets during Covid lockdowns, the world has gone […]
UK Judge Allows Ambramovich’s Libel Suit Against Harper to Move Forward
Last week UK High Court Mrs Justice Tipples made a preliminary ruling that allows Roman Abramovich’s libel lawsuit against HarperCollins and author Catherine Belton over the book PUTIN’S PEOPLE to proceed to trial. The judgment was limited to analysis of “the meaning of the passages” that Abramovich’s alleges are libelous, to “determine the impression that would have been conveyed to the ordinary reasonable reader.” Mrs Justice Tipples found that the book asserts “the claimant is under the control of President Vladimir Putin and, on the directions of President Putin and the Kremlin, he has had to make the fortune from […]
Forthcoming: Larsson’s Millennium Series Sequels
The next books in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series will have a new publisher in Sweden. Polaris has acquired the Swedish rights for books 7, 8, and 9 in the series, from Moggliden, which manages Larsson’s estate. Hedlund Literary Agency represents Moggliden. The previous books were published by Norstedts. The author for the new books has not yet been named. David Lagercrantz wrote books 4-6 in the series after Larsson’s death. US rights for the new titles have not been announced (Knopf has published the previous books in the US). “We are pleased to have agreed with Polaris on the next […]
China’s COL Digital Publishing Group Awarded Copyright Infringement Damages from Apple
Apple has been ordered by Tianjin Binhai People’s Court in China to pay $1.9 million to Chinese online publisher COL Digital Publishing Group after several third party apps were found to be publishing book content without authorization. The court said Apple failed to conduct due diligence on third-party apps to stop infringement. Online platforms in China do not have the same kind of Section 230 protections as in the US, where companies have almost no liability for third-party content. A partner at Shanghai Debund Law Firm You Yunting tells South China Morning Post, “Chinese courts have established rather high standards […]