Simon & Schuster is suing the estate of mystery writer Nelson DeMille for $1.275 million in New York Surrogate Court over a novel he never finished. S&S contends in their Nassau County filing that the DeMille estate owes the publisher a $635,000 advance paid on the acceptance and delivery of an outline for his third book, EXPLORERS CLUB, which he had not completed when he died in 2024. They also seek one third of the initial signing advance of $1.92 million paid to DeMille when he signed a $15.3 million three-book deal in 2014. DeMille’s children, Alex DeMille and Lauren […]
Legal
Michael Mocks “MAGA Myrmidons” In Melania Lawsuit
The full filing of journalist and author Michael Wolff’s lawsuit against first lady Melania Trump is now available. He seeks declaratory judgement that statements Mrs. Trump threatened to sue him over — seeking $1 billion — “are not actionable libel claims,” and asks for compensatory and punitive damages if she continues to threaten him “for the purpose of harassing, intimidating, punishing, or otherwise maliciously inhibiting Mr. Wolff’s free exercise of speech.” In Wolff’s full complaint, it alleges: “Mrs. Trump and her ‘unitary executive’ husband along with their MAGA myrmidons have made a practice of threatening those who speak against them […]
Michael Wolff Sues Melania Trump
The New York Daily News reports that Michael Wolff is suing Melania Trump in New York Supreme Court over her attempt to block publication of his book detailing her connection to Jeffrey Epstein, THE ART OF HER DEAL: The Untold Story of Melania Trump (Redux). (Wolff’s title evokes the 2020 biography of Melania Trump written by Mary Jordan.) The News writes that in the filing, Wolff “accuses Melania Trump of launching a campaign of threats to intimidate him from digging deeper into the first couple’s friendship with Epstein.” Wolff says that she threatened to sue him for $1 billion if […]
Judge Again Rules Against TX READER Law
Judge Alan D. Albright of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division again ruled that Texas’s “READER Act,” which would require booksellers to rate every book they sell to public school libraries based on vague notions of “sexually explicit material,” is unconstitutional. He issued a permanent injunction against the law. Albright, who made the same ruling in 2023 before the case was appealed, agreed with plaintiffs Blue Willow Bookshop, BookPeople, the ABA, AAP, Authors Guild, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, that “READER can and does violate the First Amendment in several ways.” Albright […]
Trump Refiles Defamation Suit Against Penguin Random House and NYT
After Florida District Court Judge Steven D. Merryday rejected Donald Trump’s initial $15 billion defamation suit against Penguin Random House, the New York Times, and New York Times reporters on the grounds that it was too long and “tedious,” Trump filed a new version that meets the judge’s limit of no more than 40 pages. The new complaint more prominently leads the “allegations” by quoting 22 statements from Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner’s book LUCKY LOSER: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, claiming that the work “published many false, malicious, and defamatory statements.” […]
Anthropic Settlement Website Launches Searchable Database of Works, Claims Portal
The Anthropic settlement website has launched the official searchable database of eligible works, as well as a portal for filing claims. Authors who think their books might have been pirated can search the Anthropic works list by title, author, publisher, or ISBN, and the site will provide a US Copyright Office registration number they will need to file a claim. An extensive FAQ explains key information about the claims process and details how the body of eligible works went from an alleged 7 million books illegally downloaded from LibGen and PiLiMi down to the 482,460 works covered by the settlement. […]