Hachette Book Group is suing Seth Grahame-Smith, author of the bestselling novels Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice & Zombies, and his company Baby Gorilla Inc. for breach of contract. In the complaint, filed in New York federal court on August 26 and first reported on by the Hollywood Reporter, HBG alleges Smith turned in an unacceptable manuscript last June more than 3 years after its initial due date — and only after the publisher moved to terminate the contract. Just before Grand Central published Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, in December 2010 they signed with Smith for two additional […]
Legal
Briefs: Bissonnette to Forfeit All “No Easy Day” Royalties; Amazon May Plan Drive-Up Grocery Stores
Former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette formally settled the case brought against him by the Federal government for failing to obtain pre-publication review and clearance for his bestselling book No Easy Day. He will disgorge all royalties for the book, or about $6.6 million, and has apologized for his actions. (As early as November 2014 Bissonnette said he had negotiated terms with the government that would have him forfeit his royalties.) “I acknowledge my mistake and have paid a stiff price, both personally and financially, for that error,” Bissonnette said. “I accept responsibility for failing to submit the book for review and apologize […]
Customers Will Finally Start Collecting On $400 Million in Consumer eBook Credits This Week
As we reported earlier this month, consumers who are eligible to receive part of the $400 million in compensation as part of Apple’s ebook antitrust settlement with the state attorneys general and the consumer class will be disbursed beginning on Tuesday. Consumers who have accounts at the major book retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple will receive a $6.93 credit for every ebook which was a New York Times bestseller, and a $1.57 credit for other purchased ebooks. (Consumers who opted to get their credits as checks will be sent those checks imminently.) Retailers will issue emails […]
Supreme Court Denies Kirtsaeng/Wiley Attorney Fee Award for Now
Three years after the Supreme Court sided with Supap Kirtsaeng on the matter of whether first sale doctrine allowed him to keep the profits from reselling foreign-language editions of Wiley textbooks, the high court has affirmed lower court rulings (in part) on the matter of whether Kirtsaeng had the right to recover his attorney fees from Wiley. In a 12-page opinion, Judge Elena Kagan remanded the case back to the lower courts, saying they may not have “understood the full scope of that discretion…to make an award even when the losing party advanced a reasonable claim or defense.” In the end, “This Court agrees with both […]
Appeals Court Orders New Trial in Ventura’s Defamation Case Against Kyle Estate
The 8th Circuit Appeals Court has ordered a new trial in Jesse Ventura’s defamation suit against the estate of Chris Kyle for comments in Kyle’s bestseller American Sniper and subsequent remarks about that passage. The defamation award of $500,000 was vacated, and an additional award of $1.3 million for “unjust enrichment” was thrown out entirely, with that finding reversed. The opinion from the three-judge appellate court comes seven months after the court said it would consider ordering a new trial in the wake of Ventura’s defense team making comments about HarperCollins’ insurance being “on the hook” if the jury found Ventura […]
Copyright Office Looks for Final Comments On Updates to Library Reproductions
The US Copyright Office has been in discussions with interested parties about potential revisions to the section of copyright law covering exceptions for reproductions by libraries and archives (aka section 108) since back in 2005. Those efforts are finally nearing the drafting of legislative recommendations for consideration by Congress. The objective is “updating the provisions to better reflect the facts, practices, and principles of the digital age and to provide greater clarity for libraries, archives, and museums.” As part of that process, the Copyright Office is formally eliciting public comment on a narrowly-defined set of remaining issues, “including, especially, provisions concerning […]