Executor of the Mario Puzo estate Anthony Puzo replied to Paramount’s suit seeking to block publication by Grand Central of a new Godfather-related book, THE FAMILY CORLEONE, and countersued, looking to terminate Paramount’s original contract for The Godfather and asking for at least $10 million in damages. Like Paramount’s original suit, the filing cites a small portion of language from the original agreement and–like Paramount–the defendant does not attach the actual contracts as evidence. Underneath the claims and counterclaims, however, the dispute appears to be more about the future of The Godfather film franchise than anything else. Attorney Bert Fields, one […]
Legal
Dorchester Says It’s Entertaining Offers From “Reputable” Houses
Following up on our report last week on the Dorchester’s deep financial woes and foreclosure by its owner John Backe, company ceo Robert Anthony sent a letter to authors and agents, obtained by Kristin Nelson and republished on her blog, with further information about the sale process and the status of their office. In the letter Anthony said that Dorchester “has not closed” but due to “challenging economic conditions” they are vacating their offices at 200 Madison Avenue to “become a virtual business,” with a delivery box on East 34 Street. “Though the transition was not as seamless as we […]
Apple, Harper and Penguin Reply to Agency-Pricing Class Action Lawsuit
As negotiations reportedly continue between multiple publishers and the Department of Justice over possible modifications to the agency model for ebook sales, the lawsuit seeking class-action status in New York’s Southern District Court continues, with three of the plaintiffs filing responses to the allegations earlier this month. Apple, filing on March 2, took issue with the idea of any conspiracy between it and publishers, saying the original complaint “implausibly suggests Apple conspired with the publishers to address economic issues it was not facing, and coordinated actions it did not participate in.” That’s because, when the agency model was implemented in […]
Dorchester’s Office Closed, Assets To Be Auctioned After Owner Forecloses
Dorchester Publishing, plagued by financial troubles for years and having recently divested itself of its remaining editorial staff, appears to be marching towards an ignoble end after more than 40 years in business. In a twist worthy of Dorchester’s tortured road to collapse, the publisher’s owner is the one foreclosing, on a personal basis, against the company itself, and will collect the proceeds from the sale of at least some of its property–raising questions about whether any assets will remain to pay creditors. On February 28, John Backe filed a notice of foreclosure after failing to collect on an outstanding […]
Justice Department Said to Threaten Suit Over Agency eBook Pricing
The Wall Street Journal says that the Justice Department’s lengthy investigation of the agency model for ebook pricing has escalated, with the government threatening to sue the “Agency Five” publishers and Apple “for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books, according to people familiar with the matter.” The paper says that “some but not all” of the publishers involved have held settlement talks with Justice. Those same people said “the Justice Department believes that Apple and the publishers acted in concert to raise prices across the industry, and is prepared to sue them for violating federal antitrust laws.” […]
In Upholding Decision, Appellate Court Agrees Lampack Can’t Claim Commission On Grimes Option Book
On March 1, the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court unanimously upheld a 2010 court decision that ruled the Peter Lampack Agency could not collect commissions on a novel by former client Martha Grimes that was an option book on a prior agreement, but whose terms were agreed upon with her publisher Penguin under a separate contract. (For more information on the original case, click here; Grimes and Penguin also recently settled a related suit with respect to legal fees and unpaid royalties as well.) The court said the contracts at issue in the case between Grimes and […]