Earlier this week when we reported on the June 3, 2013 bench trial date scheduled by Judge Denise Cote for the DOJ’s ebook price fixing suit against Apple, Macmillan, and Penguin, we weren’t sure of the exact schedule she had in mind. It took a while to appear on the docket but we now know the court’s official scheduling order. All parties, including the DOJ, State attorneys general, and the three defendants, must submit an amended Joint Official Report taking into account the June 22 rulings by July 6. They must then contact Judge Kimba Wood about scheduling settlement discussions […]
Legal
Corporate: News Corp Considers Splitting Off Publishing Division; HMH Officially Exits Bankruptcy
Following on a widely cited report from the WSJ that News Corp was considering splitting off its publishing division — including HarperCollins — from the rest of its business, the company confirmed that “it is considering a restructuring to separate its business into two distinct publicly traded companies,” with the NYT adding that further news about the possible spinoff could come as soon as this week. While the move has been speculated about for several years, more seriously since the phone-hacking scandal broke open last summer, company ceo Rupert Murdoch has apparently and “recently warmed to the idea”, which would […]
Group of Independent Publishers Object to Proposed DOJ Settlement
Hours before Monday’s midnight deadline to submit public comments on the Department of Justice’s settlement with three publishers on ebook price fixing, a group of independent publishers, including Grove/Atlantic, Norton, Perseus, Abrams, Chronicle Books, Chicago Review Press, New Directions, and Workman Publishing, submitted a joint letter to the DOJ objecting to the settlement terms as they “lack an adequate factual basis, are contrary to the public interest and should be rejected” on the grounds that it will “adversely impact competition.” The letter was sent on behalf of the group, banding together as the Independent Book Publishers, by Cravath, Swaine & […]
Judge Cote Sets eBook Lawsuit Trial Date for June 3, 2013
At a status conference Friday afternoon in federal court Judge Denise Cote set a trial date of June 3, 2013 for the DOJ’s ebook price fixing lawsuit against remaining plaintiffs Apple, Penguin, and Macmillan. And as widely noted already, June 3 also marks the beginning of next year’s Book Expo conference; it’s not clear as to whether Judge Cote chose the date by design. What is clear is that Judge Cote wants the case to move swiftly, since the date she chose is more than three months ahead of the September 30, 2013 date proposed by the DOJ. “Several parties, […]
Court Approves HMH Restructuring Plan, So Long As Case Moves Out of New York
At a hearing Thursday morning in federal bankruptcy court Judge Robert Gerber approved Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s restructuring plan to exit the pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed on May 21, Dow Jones reports. The plan will wipe out more than $3 billion in remaining debt left over from Riverdeep’s heavily leveraged merger of Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt, allow Citibank’s $500 million loan to serve as the company’s exit financing, and leave HMH with approximately $110 million in net debt and about $150 million of cash on hand. HMH expects to pay down its loan debt by 2017. While almost all objections […]
People, Etc.
Derek Krissoff has been named the new editor in chief for the University of Nebraska Press, effective July 16. He has been a senior acquisitions editor at the University of Georgia Press since 2006. John W. Warren has joined Georgetown University Press as marketing and sales director. He has spent the past twelve years as marketing director of RAND Corporation’s publications department. KC Smythe will retire on June 15 from his position as national account manager at Hachette Book Group, after 10 years with the company. Prior to Hachette, he spent 17 years at Ingram, mostly in the buying department, and 6 years as […]