The New York Post reported that the New York State Assembly’s Judiciary Committee is looking into whether government employees were tasked with working on Andrew Cuomo’s book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, as part of their impeachment inquiry. The lawyers “clearly have evidence and interviews with staff about [former aide] Melissa DeRosa instructing them to help with the manuscript,” a source said. Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi stated, “Any state official who volunteered to assist on this project did so on his or her own time and without the use of state resources. To the extent a document […]
Legal
Maryland Libraries Propose New Digital Licensing Terms Under Potentially Unconstitutional Law
Maryland’s new vague Digital Content Law, compelling publishers to license digital books and audiobooks “on reasonable terms that would enable public libraries to provide library users with access to the electronic literary product,” is considered by publishers to be blatantly unconstitutional. But it has yet to be challenged in court, so the Maryland Library Association is moving forward in advance of implementation at the beginning of 2022 to explain what they believe comprises “reasonable terms.” While the law does not define the terms any further, the MLA believes existing terms “often may not have been defined as ‘reasonable’ by library […]
Harper UK Settles One Suit Over “Putin’s People”
While a London High Court is still hearing testimony on Roman Abramovich’s lawsuit alleging defamation in Catherine Belton’s book from Harper UK, PUTIN’S PEOPLE: How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West, another suit involving the same book has been settled. In the case brought by Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman and Russian banker Petr Aven, Harper UK has “agreed to remove effectively all the material on which the actions are based from future editions of the book,” according to attorney Hugh Tomlinson (who represents the two men, along with Abramovich). A settlement document reportedly indicates, according […]
DOJ Nominee Kanter Has Been Aiding Authors Advocating for Fairness From Audible
Author Susan May, writing on behalf of Audiblegate, tells supporters by email that various legal moves are planned as part of authors’ continuing efforts for transparency and fairness in how Audible reports and records royalties. Notably, the group’s “legal team” includes Jonathan Kanter — recently nominated to run the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division — alongside Shaoul Sussman at Pearl Cohen. The two “have begun work on a legal memo” that Shaoul says, “will be a detailed paper on how Audible gained market dominance and maintained that control through the illegal breaches of antitrust laws.” They plan to deliver that […]
Former University Employee Sues B&N College for Manager’s Alleged “Racist” Remark, Call to Police
African American Joshua Gagum, a former quality assurance specialist at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina, is suing Barnes & Noble College Booksellers and an unnamed store manager for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and tortious interference. He claims the manager negligently called the police on him when he was performing his normal duties, with proper identification, and asks for damages in “an amount as determined by a jury.” According to the lawsuit, filed in July, the incident in question occurred when Gagum was inspecting a room in the university’s bookstore on January 22, 2019, as part of a […]
Lagardere Under Investigation for Alleged Abuses In Fighting Dissident Shareholder
On Friday, French newspaper Le Monde reported that France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation in April into alleged illegal practices by Lagardere, saying that an investigating judge has been appointed subsequently. Following up on allegations by dissident investor Amber Capital in February, the investigation is said to focus on “misuse of corporate assets, purchase of votes, inaccurate accounts and dissemination of false or misleading information” related to the battle for control of Lagardere. Subsequent to the initiation of the investigation, in late April, Arnaud Lagardere and the principal shareholders in the company reached an agreement to restructure the […]