Sometimes the judge holds all the cards that matter. Bob Kohn’s attempt to obtain an emergency stay of the enactment of the Department of Justice’s ebook pricing settlement pending appeal before all three Apple contracts were voided and the landscape reset itself appears to have been stymied by Judge Denise Cote, who has effectively run out the clock on Kohn by inaction. While Judge Cote denied Kohn’s request for a stay earlier this week, she didn’t rule one way or the other on whether to grant him standing to appeal the ruling in the first place, stretching that process out […]
DOJ
Annals of Agency Lite: Wednesday
While people wait for the next shoe (or two), here are some additional observations on nouveau Agency. Feel free to send us your questions (or post them in the comments). Will Everything Go Faster? A process that could have taken over a month to recalibrate now looks like it could be mostly resolved by the end of this week or beginning of next, following Harper’s quick move to new contracts. That plus the imminent expiration of Apple contracts is both accelerating and potentially simplifying the renegotiation process. And as we have seen with Harper, even when retailers may not have […]
On Kohn’s First Appeal, Judge Sets Process–For Next Week
Judge Denise Cote acknowledged Bob Kohn’s requests to appeal and stay her judgment in the ebook pricing settlement in a brief notice issued Monday. The motion to stay was denied. Anticipating that, as we reported yesterday Kohn had already gone to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals with his request. Though Kohn was initially trying to forestall the first stage of the settlement’s decree–voiding Apple’s ebook contracts within a week–Judge Cote has set deadlines for next week on his motion to appeal, at which point the entire contractual landscape for the Settlers may have changed. Opposition to Kohn’s motion is […]
Kohn Goes Directly to Appeals Court With Emergency Request For A Stay of eBook Settlement
With no response yet from District Court Judge Denise Cote to his Friday motions seeking permission to both stay and appeal the ebook settlement, entrepreneur and attorney Bob Kohn filed an emergency request with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday morning. He asked the Appeals Court “to consider and rule upon” his motion for a stay by this Friday. Reasserting many of the arguments made last week to Judge Cote, Kohn posits that “without a stay of execution of the final judgment, an appeal becomes moot and the consequent harm to the public becomes irreparable.” To meet the […]
Harper Starts Selling Under New eBook Contracts, Often At Higher List Prices
At least some new pricing for ebooks started Monday, in advance of any indication from the courts whether an appeal might stay formal imposition of the settlement with the Department of Justice. As spokesperson Erin Crum told Publishers Lunch Monday afternoon, “HarperCollins has reached agreements with our e-retailers that are consistent with the final judgment.” One reason to initiate new contracts as soon as possible is to get the process over with; each publisher must wait two years after execution of new contracts, whenever that occurs, before being able to return to unimpeded agency. The results of those new agreements–including […]
The Agency Lawsuit Index
This is a partial-index only of Publishers Lunch reports within the “Agency Lawsuits” section. It focuses on guiding readers to key original documents in the four different legal actions (the Federal lawsuit; the state lawsuit; the class-action lawsuit; and the EU investigation). In each sub-section, links are listed starting with the most recent postings. If you page back manually through the “Agency Lawsuits” section you will find many additional articles as well. Legal Filings: Department of Justice Lawsuits Macmillan’s answer Penguin’s answer Apple’s answer DOJ’s complaint DOJ’s competitive impact statement DOJ’s proposed settlement agreement with Harper, HBG and S&S DOJ […]