On Wednesday afternoon, the Department of Justice announced it had reached a settlement with Penguin, “one of the largest book publishers in the United States,” of the ebook pricing lawsuit that Penguin had previously vowed to litigate in court. (Indeed, in April, Penguin Group ceo John Makinson had defiantly underscored that “alone among the publishers party to the investigations that resulted in today’s announcements, we have held no settlement discussions with the DOJ or the states.”) The settlement, which again requires the approval by Judge Denise Cote of New York’s Southern District Court, imposes the same basics terms as the approved settlements between […]
Legal
Overlook’s Lawsuit Over MASTER AND MARGARITA eBook Rights Involves Complex Copyright Issue
Looking at the full filing in Overlook Press’s December 6 lawsuit against Daria Shilovskaya and Sergei Shilovskiy asserting the publisher’s right to produce an ebook edition of Mikhail Bulgakov’s THE MASTER AND MARGARITA, the matter is both complex and particular to a legal wrinkle that applies only to books that have had their US copyright restored. The question of essence the suit seeks to answer is whether the ebook version of the translation is a new derivative work, or the continued exploitation of a work that is already permitted. So this case is quite particular to works in translation from […]
Overlook Sues In Attempt to Affirm Right to Publish eBook Edition of Bulgakov’s MASTER AND MARGARITA
Overlook has filed suit against the grandchildren of Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov claiming that the ebook edition of MASTER AND MARGARITA does not violate copyright, Courthouse News reports. (The full complaint is not yet available in any federal court docket.) Overlook acquired the US copyright to Bulgakov’s classic novel (written in 1937 but not published until 1967, more than 25 years after Bulgakov’s death) in 2001 when it bought Ardis Press, which originally commissioned the book’s current English-language translation in 1995. Though Overlook “acknowledges that Bulgakov’s grandchildren own rights to the underlying copyright,” they dispute the heirs’ contention that the […]
People, Etc.
At Penguin Group’s Portfolio, Sentinel, and Current imprints, Kristen Gastler has been hired as a senior publicist (she was at Doubleday). Margot Stamas has moved over to the group as a publicist from Putnam and Riverhead; Christy D’Agostini has been promoted to senior publicist; and Jacquelynn Burke has been promoted to publicist. Last Friday Gawker “published here for the first time” Lena Dunham‘s highly-designed and illustrated 66-page book proposal, which you think would be protected by copyright. (They also dragged Scribd.com into the potential infringement by using the service to host and post the PDF.) When we contacted Random House […]
Bill Bryson Sues Former Agent For “Misconduct and Profound Neglect”, Including Years of Lost Royalties
Bestselling author Bill Bryson filed suit November 30 in New York Supreme Court against his former literary agent, Fred Morris of Jed Mattes Inc., alleging “misconduct and profound neglect” over a period of years, and charging that Morris “failed to perform some of the most fundamental duties of an agent” including royalty remittance and processing contracts for review and signature. The suit also claims the defendant “insisted that JMI is entitled to continue collecting a commission of fifteen percent of Bryson’s earnings on the very works Morris has neglected” and seeks to sever once and for all any connection between […]
HBG Moves to Agency Lite with Amazon and Others
Hachette Book Group has reached a new overall sales agreement with Amazon. As part of that agreement, HBG now moves to selling ebooks on an “agency lite” basis with the US trade’s leading retailer. Amazon no longer lists HBG ebook prices as having been set by the publisher, but does still list the titles themselves as “sold by Hachette Book Group.” (These are the technical details that confirm HBG is no longer controlling the consumer price, as required under the DOJ settlement, but continues an agency selling relationship as the seller of record.) As was the case when HarperCollins moved […]