Legal

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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. […]