Publication of the forthcoming book from fired deputy director of the FBI Andrew McCabe THE THREAT: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump has been postponed. St. Martin’s had intended to publish December 4, but has rescheduled the book for February 2019, pending an ongoing pre-publication review of the manuscript by the FBI. McCabe “is accusing his former agency of potentially targeting him unfairly by stalling publication,” ABC reports. “I am disappointed that we have had to substantially delay the publication date for my book because the FBI’s review has taken far longer than they led […]
Legal
EU Parliament Vote Moves Controversial Copyright Law Forward
The EU Parliament passed the Copyright Directive, containing two controversial provisions intended to ensure publishers and content creators get paid when their content is shared on internet platforms such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube. While the vote is significant, particularly considering that Parliament rejected a different version in July — it’s far from final. As the Guardian and others report, the law will now go to three-way negotiations with the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. The European Parliament will vote one final time in January. Article 11 (referred to as the “link tax”) allows publishers to […]
What Publishers’ “Morality Clauses” Actually Say, and How Agents Are Reacting
The growing awareness and apparent use of morality clauses in major publisher contracts has been a hot button issue this year — mistakenly treated as if this was a brand new practice. Most of that reporting and discussion has taken place in a partial void, absent an airing of what the actual contractual clauses say. It’s one thing to talk about the idea of morality clauses, but it’s far more important to know what standards and conditions such clauses try to impose, and what remedies they prescribe. So for several months we talked to agents, publishers, and attorneys to uncover […]
Legal: On Demand Publisher Challenges Federal Deposit Demand
The Institute for Justice is representing small, on-demand publisher Valancourt Books in a federal lawsuit challenging the US Copyright Office’s deposit demand, which requires providing two free copies of anything copyrightable. Valancourt, which has a list of about 400 reprints of out-of-print titles — “all of which contain at least some new material, like scholarly introductions or footnotes, that is copyrightable” — says it cannot afford to provide the deposit copies, and should have not have to do so for works that exist primarily as digital files. The Institute writes, “You don’t owe the federal government anything just because you […]
Barnes & Noble: Lots of Questions
Former Barnes & Noble ceo Demos Parneros’s fiery lawsuit against the company for defamation and breach of contract raises lots of currently unanswerable questions. We are readers so here, at least, are some documents for you to scrutinize: – First is the full 19-page complaint from Parneros, which we posted yesterday – There is Parneros’s employment contract, which we posted when he was fired for cause in July. Note that it has the standard confidentiality and mutual non-disparagement clauses, which apply “during and after any employment with the Company, regardless of how, when or why such employment ends.” – Looking […]
Parneros Sues Barnes & Noble for Breach and Defamation, Says Riggio Turned On Him After Sale to Another Book Retailer Fell Through; Company Calls Suit Extortion
Former Barnes & Noble ceo Demos Parneros filed suit against the bookseller in a New York Federal Court on Tuesday, alleging breach of contract and defamation in connection with his dismissal without severance in early July. Parneros seeks the “severance that is due him, which is over $4 million in cash, plus equity,” along with additional damages. His primarily allegation is that the company “falsely stated that Parneros had violated company policy and did so in language and in a manner that defendant knew full well was false but would be read as reporting that Parneros had engaged in serious […]