Rob Wall has been promoted to art director at Little Bee Books. At Open Road Media, Sarah Mangiola has been promoted to executive editor, content strategy; Carolyn Cox to managing editor content strategy; Catherine Phelan to senior editor; Olivia Mason to audience development manager; Amanda Yee to director of email production; and Amanda Shaffer to senior designer. Eric Meyer has joined as metadata specialist and Mike Wynne as customer acquisition manager for Early Bird Books. Sammy Brown has been promoted to publicist at HMH Children’s. Marissa Page has joined HMH as publicity associate. She previously worked as a journalist. Awards National Book […]
Legal
Briefs: Dykstra Sues Over Darling Book, Bertelsmann Restructures Printing Group
Legal Former NY Mets player Lenny Dykstra has sued Ron Darling, his former teammate, as well as his publisher St. Martin’s in New York Supreme Court for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. At issue is a passage in the just-published 108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game. According to Darling’s book, Dykstra hurled racist comments at Boston Starter Oil Can Boyd while he warmed up for Game 3 of the 1986 World Series; Darling wrote, “the worst collection of taunts and insults I’d ever heard — worse, I’m betting, […]
Audible to Settle Lawsuit with Up to 12 Million Free Audiobooks
Audible could issue as many as 12 million free audiobooks and reimburse up to 8.4 million customers for overdraft fees to fulfill the settlement terms of two recent class action lawsuits. The plaintiffs in Grant McKee et al. v. Audible, Inc. and Eric Weber and Bryan Rees v. Amazon.com, Inc., and Amazon Services LLC claim that Audible failed to communicate to customers that unredeemed credits are lost when an account cancels, and that gift membership credits expire when the gift membership does. As well, plaintiff McKee argued that the credits are a form of gift certificate, which federal banking laws requires to […]
Former Intelligence Agency Employees Sue Over Prepublication Review
Five former employees of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of Defense, have sued their former employers to contest the government’s prepublication approval requirements. Former intelligence employees are required to submit manuscripts for review and obtain government approval before they can publish, which the plaintiffs call an “unconstitutional censorship regime” that “cannot be squared with the First Amendment,” according to the complaint, filed in Federal District Court in Maryland. The suit declares itself “a challenge to a far-reaching system of prior restraints that suppresses a broad swath of constitutionally protected speech, […]
Legal: Netflix Claims Fair Use In Arguing for Dismissal of Chooseco Suit, and More Updates
Netflix replied to Chooseco’s lawsuit from early January alleging that the interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch infringed on the Choose Your Own Adventure trademark. The streaming service says that Chooseco’s argued infringements are minor in of and themselves, not “anywhere near sufficient to state a claim,” and therefore should be dismissed. Netflix argues that Bandersnatch “explores the Choose Your Own Adventure idea,” which makes it “descriptive fair use,” and at the same time suggest it might be satire and/or commentary as well, which would be protected. “One of Bandersnatch’s clear purposes is to comment on, and darkly satirize, the familiar […]
People, Awards, Etc.
At St. Martin’s, Joe Goldschein has been promoted to senior director, marketing & sales operations; Kim Ludlam to director, creative services; Martin Quinn to associate director, marketing; Marissa Sangiacomo to senior marketing manager; Erik Platt to senior manager, digital advertising operations; Danielle Prielipp to senior marketing manager; Joe Brosnan to senior marketing manager; DJ DeSmyter to marketing manager; and Dylan Helstien to assistant manager, advertising operations. Paddy Laidley, executive vice president and head of Raincoast Books, will retire on May 31. Current vice president of sales Peter MacDougall will succeed her. Laidley joined Raincoast in 1994 as sales manager and […]