Zondervan has sold the technology and infrastructure behind their Symtio business to LibreDigital (in which Zondervan parent HarperCollins is also an investor). The sale covers “the Symtio e-commerce technology, existing e-commerce contracts and applications, and key e-commerce staff,” but not Symtio’s retail card business, which the release says ” Zondervan is in negotiations to sell separately.” It’s a curious bifurcation, since Symtio has always promoted their “digital product cards” as the heart of the business that lets physical retailers sell and activate cards that allow the downloading of digital media. LibreDigital ceo Russell Reeder says in the announcement they will […]
Legal
Once Again, Cussler Wins/Loses In Odd Movie Suit
The bizarre case between Clive Cussler and Crusader Entertainment (now Bristol Bay Productions) continues, with a California Court of Appeals ruling once again having both sides claiming victory, at least for now. The court overturned a prior order that Cussler pay Crusader $5 million for breach of contract. But they rejected Cussler’s contention that he was still owed $8.5 million by Crusader for rights to a book of his that was never adapted into a movie. Attorneys for both sides said they won, though Cussler’s lawyer Bert Fields wins the award for best convoluted phrasing, contending that “Crusader was barred […]
In the Case That Never Quits, Supreme Court Overturns Appellate Ruling on Tasini Case
In the neverending Tasini case (technically Reed Elsevier v. Muchnick) over electronic rights to articles written by freelancers, the Supreme Court has changed the game again. Today they overruled a Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that had rejected an $18 million settlement between writers and publishers. The appellate court had said it did not have jurisdiction to approve the agreement because nearly all of the copyrighted articles in question had not been registered with the Copyright office. (The link is brief since the verdict was just announced; expect more during the day.)Wire report
Judge Dismisses Meyer Infringement Cast
In a California Federal Court, Judge Otis D. Wright II carefully read and compared Stephenie Meyer’s BREAKING DAWN and Jordan Scott’s THE NOCTURNE and dismissed Scott’s case alleging copyright infringement. As Judge Wright summarized, “plaintiff simply argues that the works are similar in three particular respects: the marriage sequence, consummation of the marriage on a beach, and the childbirth.” In comparing the works, he finds that “the plots and themes in the subject books have little in common,” “the settings and characters in the two works are vastly different,” oh and also, “the characters are similarly different.” While both books […]
Court Denies Request for Injunction Blocking Release of BN's Nook
A California judge acknowledged that “there is a genuine dispute over whether the nook was derived from information disclosed by” Spring Design to Barnes & Noble “or was the product of earlier independent development” by BN but denied Spring Design’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking release of the ereader. The judge did agree to expedited pre-trial procedures to move the process along.Ruling at Engadget