Attorney and entrepreneur Bob Kohn continues to aggressively challenge the Department of Justice’s ebook price-fixing case, asking Judge Denise Cote in a series of filings Monday for permission to file an amicus curiae brief of 25 pages (plus an appendix of 12 additional pages), in specific reply to the DOJ’s responses to the public comments. Kohn adds to the calls from other parties for the Judge to hold a hearing before ruling, arguing that to determine if the settlement “is in the public interest, it would be perverse if this decision were made without a public hearing.” He also asks […]
Legal
Judge Cote Limits Apple’s Settlement Comment to Five Pages, Will Rule On Settlement After Motions Are “Fully Submitted”
The trickle of insights into Judge Denise Cote’s impatience with all parties in the ebook pricing settlement continues, with a brief order from Tuesday. She was answering Apple’s request to file 10 pages of additional “views” by August 15 instead of staying within the clear 5-page limit Judge Cote already specified (denied), as well as their request for a hearing on the settlement. As we suggested yesterday, anyone aspiring to file additional remarks should take the seriousness of the Judge’s 5-page limit to heart. As also noted previously, it is at the Judge’s discretion whether or not to hold a […]
Judge Cote Approves Booksellers’ Request–But Won’t Let Them Say Anything Else
On Monday, Judge Denise Cote agreed to the joint request by the ABA and Barnes & Noble to file a friend of the court brief regarding the ebook pricing settlement. But, since the motion from the booksellers itself already “contains five pages of substantive arguments,” and Judge Cote has already set a strict five-page limit on the parties to the ligitation for any responses to the government’s filings, she will not accept any additional material from the ABA and BN. In other words, the arguments they made in asking to file a new brief have been accepted–as the brief itself. […]
eNews: Amazon UK Says Kindle Sales There Surpass Print; AG Asks Court To Declare GBS “Is Not Fair Use”; And More
Amazon UK issued a press release Monday touting the news that ebook sales now outpace all print sales combined, measured across 2012. For every 100 print books sold from Amazon.co.uk (in all formats combined), they’ve sold 114 Kindle editions. As usual, their ratio excludes free Kindle books (but does include very inexpensive ones, and KDP titles). Amazon US passed a similar milestone as of April 1, 2011. They also declare EL James as Amazon UK’s all-time bestselling author, they say, her combined print and Kindle sales eclipsing JK Rowling’s total sales at the site. Amazon UK has sold more than […]
DOJ Asks for Quick Approval of eBook Settlement, with No Hearing
As expected, on Friday the Department of Justice moved for entry of the proposed final judgment in the settlement with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster, “without further hearing.” The government reiterated its belief “that the proposed Final Judgment is an appropriate remedy to the harm alleged in the Complaint with respect to Settling Defendants and is within the reaches of the public interest.” It should be simple, according to the DOJ: “The proposed Final Judgment resolves the claims against Settling Defendants and there is nothing further for the Court to adjudicate with respect to them.” They even […]
ABA and Barnes & Noble to File Joint Brief Urging Rejection of eBook Settlement
The ABA and Barnes & Noble have gotten together on something: they requested permission from Judge Denise Cote to file an amici curiae brief on the pending ebook pricing settlement. In a proposed order for the judge, they ask to submit a brief of up to 10 pages on the Department of Justice’s filed response to the public’s comments submitted under the Tunney Act, along with a response of up to 5 pages on Justice’s motion for entry of proposed final judgment in the case. Justice now has the option of opposing their request before Judge Cote rules on it. […]