Hachette Book Group has officially transitioned the distribution of the acquired Perseus Books imprints from Ingram, which had been handling fulfillment through the Perseus distribution center in Jackson, TN since the sale was completed in April 2016. As of March, all orders for Perseus Books titles will be processed and shipped through HBG. In other corporate news, law firm Robbins Arroyo announced that they filed a class action complaint on behalf of shareholders against Pearson in the US. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The action stems from Pearson’s dramatic lowering of forecasts for the performance of their North American […]
Legal
Kate Morton and Former Agent Sue Each Other Over Backlist Commissions
Australian author Kate Morton, author of a number of internationally bestselling novels including The Shifting Fog and The Lake House, and her former agent Selwa Anthony have sued each other over the fate of future commissions from Morton’s backlist. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, which obtained Anthony’s original lawsuit and Morton’s counter-claim, the conflict began when Morton fired Anthony in December 2015 after more than 10 years of representation. Morton then retained Lizzy Kremer at David Higham Associates, to represent new and future works and also to “manage the royalty flow from her backlist.” Anthony sued Morton, claiming the pair […]
Penguin Random House Offers Unlimited Match for Employee Donations to Free Expression, Diversity and Humanitarian Charities
Penguin Random House ceo Markus Dohle wrote to US employees in an internally-posted memo on Tuesday, reacting to the charged moment in American society with a special unlimited matching gift program that will run through the end of February. The company will match employee contributions of any size, without limit, to charitable 501(c)3 organizations devoted to “free expression, diversity, and humanitarian causes.” In a nod to President Trump’s controversial executive order blocking immigration to the US from seven countries, Dohle notes that, “We cannot ever take for granted that a crucial component of our diversity is people coming to publish and […]
Amazon, Pearson Push Back On Immigration Limits
Amazon made a declaration of support for a lawsuit filed by the Washington state attorney general in Federal Court looking to overturn President Trump’s recent executive order limiting immigration from seven countries as unconstitutional. The first state to file suit, Washington is also seeking a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the order. Amazon indicated it was aware of 49 US-based employees who are from one of the countries targeted by the president’s order. In an email to employees, ceo Jeff Bezos noted, “We are working other legal options as well.” Bezos told staff, “This executive order is one we do not […]
Amazon Agrees to Break eBook Contractual Strangleholds In Europe
On Tuesday the European Commission announced proposed settlement “commitments” from Amazon to give up a variety of restrictive “parity clauses” in their ebook contracts with publishers across Europe, following a “preliminary assessment” reached on December 9, 2016 concluding “the clauses may breach EU antitrust rules and result in reduced competition among e-book distributors, and less consumer choice.” The new settlement comes quickly after Amazon’s Audible subsidiary agreed earlier this month to end its worldwide exclusivity agreements on digital audiobooks with Apple’s iTunes stores. The ebook settlement includes the publication of the EC’s “preliminary view” that Amazon “may violate EU antitrust rules” […]
Canada Reaches eBook Settlement with Apple and Three Publishers, Pursues HarperCollins
Canada’s Competition Bureau reached modest new consent agreements with Apple and three major publishers — Hachette, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster — related to the introduction of agency ebook pricing there. HarperCollins declined to settle, and the Commissioner of Competition is seeking harsher restrictions on the company’s ebook pricing as a result. Apple will drop all most favored nations clauses from their sales agreements with major ebook publishers (including Penguin Random House) for 3 years. The settling publishers agree to drop most favored nations clauses from their agreements with all ebooksellers in Canada for 3 years, and they will not “restrict, limit […]