At Lerner Publishing Group, Rachel Zugschwert has been promoted to vp, marketing, and Greg Hunter to editorial director, Graphic Universe, both effective January 1, 2019. Forthcoming Zadie Smith‘s first short story collection GRAND UNION will be published by Penguin Press in fall 2019, and in the UK by Hamish Hamilton on October 3, 2019. It will contain ten new stories, as well as 10 more of “her very best, drawn from two decades of remarkable short fiction.” Initiatives Boston creative writing center GrubStreet has been selected by the city to open a new “civic-cultural space” on the first and second floors of Fifty […]
Legal
Accountant Who Stole From Donadio & Olson Given Two Years In Prison; Agency Declared Bankruptcy
One of the year’s stranger — and more unsettling — capers came to a close on Monday, as former Donadio & Olson bookkeeper Darin Webb was sentenced. After pleading guilty in July to one count of wire fraud for defrauding the agency and its clients of $3.3 million, District Judge Edgardo Ramos sentenced Webb to two years in prison. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release thereafter, plus “a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $3,300,000, and restitution in an amount to be determined.” The government had recommended a stiffer sentence of 51 to 63 months in […]
Once Again, Court Thoroughly Rejects ReDigi’s Scheme for “Used” Digital Goods Marketplace
Just as a District Court unequivocally and thorough called (now bankrupt) start-up ReDigi’s efforts to establish a scheme and marketplace for reselling “used” copies of copyrighted digital files of music (and thus potentially ebooks, as well as video, games and software) copyright infringement in 2013, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has ratified that decision in this cockroach of a legal case. The Appeals Court similarly dismisses without hesitation ReDigi’s various arguments. “Their transfer process” to move the “used” files around inherently “creates a reproduction, and that is a copyright violation,” pure and simple. Their arguments for fair use did […]
To Kill A Mockingbird Play Reflects Harper Lee Estate’s Concerns, As Well As Playwright Sorkin’s Touch
In a year with no shortage of strange developments, one of the stranger was the March lawsuit brought by the Harper Lee estate against the producers of new stage version of To Kill A Mockingbird — settled out of court (and thus privately) in May, after production company Rudinplay had countersued the estate and its representative Tonja Carter in April. With the play officially opening this week, over the weekend the NYT provided a detailed assessment of the ways in which the script is likely to have changed since the settlement. By their evaluation, of 80 script elements that Carter […]
Legal: Morton Victorious Over Agent; Krakauer Sues Over Into the Wild Musical; Report Challenges Tattoist
From Australia comes a reminder (not that we needed one) of the enduring value of written contracts. A court ruled in favor of Australian author Kate Morton, who was sued by her former literary agent Selwa Anthony (and then countersued for breach of “fiduciary duty and duty of care”). Anthony claimed that she was entitled to commissions on Morton’s backlist in perpetuity, despite having been fired in 2015, based on a claim of a verbal agreement in a 2002 phone conversation. The pair never had a written agency agreement; during the trial, Anthony said she “didn’t believe in contracts.” Justice […]
Deadline Set for a Motion to Dismiss B&N Counterclaims Against Parneros
Former Barnes & Noble ceo Demos Parneros’s desire to ask the court to dismiss the bookseller’s countersuit against him persists, at least for a few more weeks, following a pre-motion conference on Thursday before Judge John G. Koetl. The judge set a December 21 deadline for the plaintiff’s counsel either to answer or move against Barnes & Noble’s counterclaims. But Judge Koetl discouraged the idea again, this time at great length. He said that “substantial hours” would be spent on it, which “wouldn’t make a whit of difference to the case.” Attorney Anne Clark seemed to be channeling her client […]