Controversies After UK thriller writer Mark Dawson admitted — or boasted? — about buying his way onto the Sunday Times bestseller list with a modest purchase of 400 hardcovers, Nielsen Bookscan has recalculated that Top 10 chart to remove Dawson’s book and the paper will issue a correction. Nielsen says they initially believed the purchase was related to a virtual book signing. Dawson, who still promotes his “top 10” listing on his Twitter page, said in a Twitter thread he was only cheating a little, not a lot: “If I was intent on ‘gaming the system’ I would have bought […]
Legal
Publishers May Have to Scramble If Buyers of LSC’s Assets “Wind-Down” Contracts
The auction for the assets of bankrupt LSC Communications has been postponed to August 25, from August 5, as book publishers recently lost a court battle to give them more time if the buyers elect not to assume their existing contracts. Because bankruptcy abrogates many existing obligations, the ultimate buyers of LSC’s assets would have the right to reject publishers’ contracts — perhaps wanting to renegotiate terms. If such buyers do reject any of the current publisher contracts, the recent judge’s order establishes a three-month “wind-down” period, during which any publishers whose contracts would be rejected would need to move […]
People, Etc.: Lucas to Run Pantheon and Schocken
Executive Director of the National Book Foundation Lisa Lucas will take over Pantheon and Schocken Books as svp, publisher — though not until “completing her work with the NBF at the end of 2020.” She will report to Reagan Arthur, who says in the announcement, “When I thought about Pantheon’s rich legacy and imagined ways to build on that for the future, the first name that came to mind was Lisa’s. I’m delighted to know that Pantheon will continue to thrive and evolve under her leadership, in concert with our incredible team of editors, marketers, and publicists.” On the broader […]
Judge Lifts Gag on Mary Trump’s Book, Raises Major Doubts on Suit’s Merits
New York Judge Hal Greenwald had no trouble lifting the gag order on Mary Trump’s book TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH on Monday: “In the vernacular of First year law students, ‘Con. Law trumps Contracts.'” The keeps alive the streak of attorney Charles Harder on behalf of Donald Trump as a total loser. In polite, thorough, legal language, Judge Greenwald makes clear the absurdity of the request for an injunction, and the move to block Mary Trump. The suit is clearly designed to protect Donald Trump, hiding behind his brother Robert, but as the Judge reminds us, “Remember the Plaintiff […]
Judge Freezes Ebook Pirates’ Assets
Washington district court Judge Marsha J. Pechman granted a temporary restraining order against the ebook piracy site KISS Library, as requested in the suit by Authors Guild members, Amazon Publishing, and PRH. The order freezes the assets and websites. Though the enterprise is based in Ukraine, the order applies to “any funds with their payment processors” attorney John Goldmark told PL. Their main payment processor, FastSpring, is based in California, and some of the domain registrars are also US based, he said. As of at least yesterday, all the domains had already been taken down, though KISS could migrate its […]
Authors Guild Members, Amazon and PRH Join to Fight Ukrainian Ebook Pirates
A group of Authors Guild members, Amazon Publishing, and Penguin Random House jointly filed a lawsuit in a Washington state federal court against Ukraine-based Kiss Library, alleging that the site flagrantly trades in cheap pirated ebooks. Kiss “is able to offer ‘unbeatable prices’ for a simple reason: its catalogs are replete with pirated ebooks, including titles for which Plaintiffs individually own and/or control exclusive copyrights in theUnited States,” says the complaint. Kiss Library does business under Kissly.net, Libly.net, Cheap-Library.com and other domain names. (Currently, the three named URLs are down.) Author plaintiffs include Lee Child, Sylvia Day, John Grisham, C.J. […]