In a order issued Tuesday afternoon, Judge Cote set out a proposed schedule for reviewing Macmillan’s settlements with the DOJ, 49 states, and the civil class-action group, announced earlier this month. Per the schedule, the government must file all public comments by May 30, with additional motions on the settlement due from the DOJ by June 13. Responses to the motion are due June 27, and the government’s reply due July 8. A final hearing date before approving the settlements was not indicated in the papers, however. In a separate order, the DOJ ordered a teleconference hearing for Friday, February […]
Legal
People, Etc.
Lonely Planet recently announced a number of promotions and new hires. Leslie Davisson has been promoted to director, trade channel marketing and national accounts, while Gerilyn Attebery moves up to senior design manager and Rana Freedman has been promoted to senior manager, consumer marketing and communications. Jennifer Pentes has joined as production lead overseeing the new US-based Client Solutions delivery team. Previously she was assistant director, creative services and marketing, at Sundance Institute. Rachel Berg has been named content producer, previously principal of editorial & promotional content at Travelocity. Finally, Clare Chadwick has moved from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne office to […]
Macmillan Settles 3 Cases; Discounting Starts this Week, Stimulus Starts Soon, But Penguin Still Hasn’t Settled with States
On Friday Macmillan actually agreed to settle three lawsuits all at once–the ebook pricing case brought by the Department of Justice, but also the parallel case led by a consortium of attorneys general for the states and even the class-action case filed on behalf of consumers. Separately, also on Friday, the presiding judge over all of the cases Denise Cote gave final approval to the states’ settlement with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. As a result, the payout of restitution to qualifying consumers will begin “as soon as practicable.” (Earlier documents indicated payouts would begin 30 days […]
Discounting of Macmillan Books to Start By Next Week
When Macmillan ceo John Sargent said in a letter Friday morning that discounting of their ebooks under the settlement with Department of Justice “will take effect quickly,” he really meant it. The court filing is more blunt on the matter: “Macmillan must allow its e-book retailers to discount within three business days of agreeing to the settlement, even if it has not formalized new contracts with retailers.” DOJ writes that “the proposed Macmillan Final Judgment does not give Macmillan a choice” in notifying and renegotiating with retailers–as the original settlement had done–“to provide for more prompt relief to consumers.” But it’s […]
Macmillan Settles DOJ Case
Macmillan ceo John Sargent told the publishers’ community Friday morning they company is settling the lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice: “We settled because the potential penalties became too high to risk even the possibility of an unfavorable outcome.” As Sargent explains, each time another company settled with DOJ, that increased Macmillan’s potential liability, to the point where the risk became untenable. As a result of the settlement, “retailers will now be able to discount Macmillan e-books for a limited time,” even beyond the limited 10 percent discounting on ebooks priced at $13.99 and above that they introduced last […]
Legal: Judge Throws Out Negligence Case Against Penguin, Michael Capuzzo; Licensing Company Sues Penguin for Contract Breach
Earlier this month a New Jersey federal court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against Penguin and author Michael Capuzzo that alleged his 2010 book THE MURDER ROOM was negligent in recounting an extramarital affair. Significantly, as we’ll detail below, the judge accepted standard publishing process for relying on the author’s work and warranties and not performing detailed “fact-checking.” As we reported in March 2011, plaintiff Joan Crescenz sued for defamation claiming that a 30-year relationship with employer and forensic sculptor Frank Bender described in the book never happened. Crescenz also said the allegations violated her privacy and that she wasn’t […]