On December 16, the AAP filed documents seeking a preliminary injunction against the state of Maryland that would block a new law requiring publishers to license ebooks to public libraries “on reasonable terms” from going into effect on January 1. That requests follows the organization’s suit filed on December 9 against this precedent-breaking legislation. The organization argues: “First, AAP is likely to succeed on the merits of showing that the Maryland Act is preempted by federal law. The Maryland Act impermissibly intrudes into federal copyright law by implementing a state-law compulsory licensing scheme that deprives copyright holders of their exclusive […]
Legal
FEC Allows Random House to Rent Campaign Email List
The Daily Beast reports that the Federal Election Commission has allowed Random House to rent Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) campaign email list to promote his October book, Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could. Significantly, the decision opens up the possibility of the same for other politicians. The FEC decided that it would allow the rental as long as Random House pays fair market value for the list, and “no Committee resources or personnel would be used to promote the book.” Schiff petitioned the FEC for the use of the list after his book came […]
Penguin Random House Answers DOJ
Penguin Random House filed their initial answer on Monday to the Department of Justice’s complaint seeking to block the publisher’s plan to acquire Simon & Schuster. The reply challenges the core of the DOJ’s case, which asserts that the acquisition is “likely to substantially lessen competition” for “the acquisition of US publishing rights to books from authors,” focusing in particular on what the government describes as the market for “anticipated top-selling books,” which “would be highly concentrated.” But is that an acceptable market definition? PRH argues that, “DOJ invents a market for rights to ‘anticipated top-selling books’ that excludes the […]
AAP Sues to Block Maryland’s New Law on Library eBook Licensing
With Maryland’s precedent-breaking law requiring publishers to license ebooks to public libraries “on reasonable terms” set to be implemented at the beginning of 2022, the AAP has filed in the US District Court for Maryland. The association seeks, “A declaration that the Maryland Act is preempted by federal law and unconstitutional, and an injunction preventing its enforcement.” They allege four causes of action, including express and conflict preemption under the Copyright Act and the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, along with violations of the Commerce Clause, and the Due Process Clauses. While the AAP usually supports and organizes actions brought […]
Legal: Court Sends Foundry Dispute to Mediation
Judge Joel M. Cohen approved the joint request by former Foundry Media partners Yfat Reiss Gendell and Peter McGuigan to send their dispute to the court’s non-binding Alternative Dispute Resolution mediation program. If the mediation fails to resolve the matter, the parties will appear back before Judge Cohen for a conference on February 15. In the meantime, as requested, the discovery and motion schedule was extended, pending the results of the mediation.
UK Judge Allows Ambramovich’s Libel Suit Against Harper to Move Forward
Last week UK High Court Mrs Justice Tipples made a preliminary ruling that allows Roman Abramovich’s libel lawsuit against HarperCollins and author Catherine Belton over the book PUTIN’S PEOPLE to proceed to trial. The judgment was limited to analysis of “the meaning of the passages” that Abramovich’s alleges are libelous, to “determine the impression that would have been conveyed to the ordinary reasonable reader.” Mrs Justice Tipples found that the book asserts “the claimant is under the control of President Vladimir Putin and, on the directions of President Putin and the Kremlin, he has had to make the fortune from […]