Earlier this week an anonymous Google employee sued over internal confidentiality policies that run the gamut from spying on employees to writing novels without the company’s approval, saying they breach California labor laws. The suit, first reported on by The Information, “alleges Google runs an internal ‘spying program’ which relies on employees voluntarily reporting other employees who might have leaked information.” The John Doe plaintiff, employed as a product manager at Google, is suing under a California provision that allows employees to sue on behalf of other co-workers. Should the plaintiff win, the state would receive 75 percent of the […]
Legal
EU Takes One More Step Towards Maybe Allowing Reduced Tax on eBooks Some Day
The European Union’s achingly slow battle over whether to allow ebooks the same potential for preferential sales tax treatment that print books are given has taken another expected steps towards potential resolution…some time in 2017. Or not. Following on a plan announced this spring, the European Commission has presented a formal proposal for a variety of tax rule revisions. Included in those extensive proposals is one on ebooks that “allow – but not oblige – Member States” to give ebooks (and digital newspapers, magazines, etc.) the same lower or nonexistent VAT status that they give currently to print books. But […]
EU Court Affirms Libraries’ Right to Lend Legal eBooks
The European Union’s Court of Justice issued a ruling on Thursday that declares EU rules about a public lending right to physical books through libraries apply to ebooks as well. The judgment imposes as a legal right what has become established business practice in the US for some time (albeit with a number of business model variations publisher by publisher): Libraries can lend legally published and purchased ebooks on a one-user-per-copy basis. EU rules require “fair compensation” to authors; what’s not clear to us from the ruling is whether those rules allow a separate practice from some publishers in the US […]
Source Says Amazon In Preliminary Settlement Talks In EU eBook Antitrust Case
With the European Commission looking to flex some regulatory muscle over American-based technology giants including Apple, Google and Amazon, at least one source reported to Reuters on Tuesday that “Amazon is in talks to settle the e-book case” under investigation by the EC “but it is too early to say whether it will reach an agreement.” At about the same time, Bloomberg ran a story citing “people familiar with the case” saying that Amazon is in settlement talks with European regulators. The European Commission brought “a formal antitrust investigation into certain business practices by Amazon in the distribution of electronic books” in June […]
Congressman Sues Simon & Schuster Over Allegations in “Murder in The Bayou”
Congressman Charles Boustany of Lafayette, LA, currently running for the Senate, filed a defamation suit in a Lafayette District Court against Simon & Schuster and Ethan Brown, author of Murder In the Bayou. Published in mid-September and investigating the deaths of eight Louisiana women, the book cites multiple unidentified sources who suggest that Congressman Boustany was involved with prostitutes who were murdered (but does not accuse him of any involvement in the killings). Boustany’s campaign denied the allegations and denounced the book in early September, when a campaign spokesman said in a statement, “These allegations are completely false and don’t even deserve a response.” […]
Briefs: Pedroza Collects In Fifty Shades Settlement, Amazon Boston, and More
Jennifer Pedroza will finally collect from her former Writers’ Coffee Shop partner Amanda Hayward, in a confidential settlement. Hayward is dropping her appeal of the Texas District Court judgment that gave Pedroza a $10.6 million award, along with $900,000 in interest and $1.7 million in attorney’s fees. The final payment does include at least $1.6 million from Random House that was being held by the court. Hayward had been ordered to put $10 million in escrow in 2015 though it was never clear whether she had the cash to fulfill the court’s order. Royalties from Random House were to be channeled to the escrow account to […]