After the Supreme Court declined to hear Apple’s appeal of the 2013 ebook antitrust ruling in March, the big question has been when the $400 million in compensation to consumers (plus $50 million in attorney fees) as stipulated in the previous settlement with the state attorneys general and the consumer class would be disbursed. Because of a potential Supreme Court appeal from a “professional objector” to the settlement, attorneys were “hoping” to see payment to ebook purchasers “by fall of 2016.” Now partner Shana Scarlett at Hagens Berman, the law firm that filed the original class action lawsuit in 2012 and still represents the consumer class, tells PL in response […]
Legal
Author Sues to Challenge eBooks As Sale Rather Than License, But He Sues the Wrong Publisher
Publishers’ early insistence on treating consumer ebook transactions as sales for royalty purposes, even though the files are provided to paying individuals under limited license rather than sold, is being challenged in an author lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court on May 19, seeking class action status. But the author and his attorneys appear to have brought suit against the wrong company, so the current filing will likely be rejected for lack of standing. The brief six-page lawsuit, first noticed by CopyLaw, was filed by Sheldon Blau, author of How to Get Out of the Hospital Alive against Simon & […]
Following Bloomberg Investigation Amazon Promises Same Day Delivery for Roxbury, MA; Congressman Calls for FTC Inquiry
Amazon responded to criticism in the wake of Bloomberg’s extensive investigation showing that the rollout of their Prime Same-Day Delivery service has focused on areas where residents are primarily white, and overlooked neighborhoods. The company is correcting what Bloomberg had called “the most striking gap in Amazon’s same-day service,” which was “in Boston, where three ZIP codes encompassing the primarily black neighborhood of Roxbury are excluded from same-day service, while the neighborhoods that surround it on all sides are eligible.” Amazon told Bloomberg by email, “We are actively working with our local carrier to enable service to the Roxbury neighborhood in the coming weeks.” […]
Judge Grants Preliminary Approval of Settlement for Harlequin Authors Class Action Suit
Earlier this month District Court Judge William H. Pauley III granted preliminary approval to a settlement of the class action suit brought by authors against Harlequin, seeking additional payment for books for which Harlequin licensed ebook rights to its own subsidiaries. A fairness hearing has been scheduled for June 30. (Exclusions and objections must be postmarked by June 6.) The settlement provides for a fund of $4.1 million — minus approximately $1.05 million for attorneys’ fees and related costs — to be divided among qualifying authors with contracts signed between 1990 and 2004. It applies to authors whose books were published […]
Supreme Court Will Not Hear Authors Guild’s Appeal of Google Books Case
After at least three strikes (or more, depending upon how you count), the Authors Guild’s decade-long case accusing Google of copyright infringement in their library book-scanning program has come to an end. In their conference last Friday, the Supreme Court denied the Guild’s petition for a writ of certiorari. That leaves standing District Court Judge Denny Chin’s original and unequivocal 2013 ruling that Google’s scanning qualified as “fair use.” Judge Chin’s finding was unanimously upheld by a three-judge Second Circuit Court of Appeals panel in 2015. The Authors Guild first brought their suit in September 2005. The AAP followed with their own […]
Back to Court: Authors Guild Petition Rescheduled for April 15
The Supreme Court finally updated the docket entry for the Authors Guild’s request to have their appeal of the Google Books case heard by the high court. After skipping the petition in the April 1 Conference, the Court is once again due to consider the Guild’s case as their next Conference, on April 15. (We will find out at 9:30 AM on Monday, April 18 if they made a decision or defer it to another date.)