The Internet Archive, sued by four AAP member publishers for “willful mass copyright infringement” after creating an open-access “National Emergency Library” of its 1.3 million self-scanned ebooks, has answered the complaint with a request for a jury trial. (In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that there is a Seventh Amendment right to a trial by jury in copyright infringement suits seeking statutory damages.) Update: We overlooked that the plaintiff publishers had also asked for a jury trial in their original complaint. The answer, filed July 28 in the Southern District of New York, puts forth a number of affirmative defenses […]
Legal
People, Etc.
Vanessa Campos has joined D4EO Literary Agency as an agent. She was previously sales and marketing director of Entrepreneur Press. Mariah Nichols has been promoted to literary agent. Imprints In the UK, Hodder & Stoughton has created the Hodder Studio imprint, which “brings together creative minds from a wide range of backgrounds and media industries.” and is “acquiring books with international aspirations, exploring original partnerships and developing new relationships with audiences.” The imprint will include audio, and the first books launch in October 2020 through to 2022. Jamie Hodder-Williams heads the imprint and Myfanwy Moore is publisher. (Moore was previously a TV […]
Briefs
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 […]
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 […]