Following the filing of Apple’s brief late last month asking the Supreme Court to hear its appeal of the ebook pricing case, the clock had been ticking on the optional filing of a response from the Department of Justice. According to the newly updated court docket, the deadline for “all respondents” was extended by about a month, until January 4, 2016. In addition, the court indicated last week that counsel for both Apple and the states consented to the filing of amicus briefs “in support of either party or of neither party,” by the same deadline.
Legal
Germany Antitrust Office Investigates Audible and iTunes Exclusive Sales Agreement
Following a complaint lodged by Germany’s Publishers and Booksellers Association in September, the country’s Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) announced on Monday that it “has initiated administrative proceedings against the Amazon subsidiary Audible.com and Apple Computer Inc,” regarding their “long-term agreement” that has Audible as the exclusive supplier of audiobooks to the iTunes Store. President of the Federal Cartel Office Andreas Mundt says in the statement: “Both companies hold a strong position in the market for digital audiobooks in Germany. We therefore see ourselves obliged to examine more closely the agreement between these two competitors. The audiobook publishers need to have sufficient alternative channels for […]
In Supreme Court Filing, Apple Claims Appeals Court Decision “Will Harm Competition And The National Economy”
Per the prescribed deadline, Apple filed its petition for a writ of certoriari with the Supreme Court late Wednesday, asking it to review the 2-1 decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the verdict finding Apple guilty of antitrust violations in launching the iBooks Store. Though the docket does not reflect the updated filing, we were able to obtain the 297-page brief, which expands upon the 7-page summary Apple filed with the court last month, with 35 pages of arguments, and many more pages of appendices. (Note this story is based a quick read of that filing.) Apple’s formal […]
Dear Author and Ellora’s Cave Settle Defamation Lawsuit
Romance publisher Ellora’s Cave has settled its defamation lawsuit filed against romance website Dear Author and its proprietor Jennifer Gerrish-Lampe (aka Jane Litte) after a hearing in a Northern Ohio Federal Court Thursday afternoon, according to a brief note in the court docket. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and EC ceo Patty Marks said in an email to their authors that they “are pleased to announce that we have reached a settlement with Dear Author. The terms are confidential, so we will not be discussing that. We are very happy though to now put all of our time and efforts […]
Appeals Court Gives Weight to Argument That Chris Kyle Jury Should Not Have Been Told Insurer Would Pay Jesse Ventura’s Damages
An 8th Circuit Appeals Court said it would consider ordering a new trial in Jesse Ventura‘s defamation case against the estate of Chris Kyle and HarperCollins over remarks published in AMERICAN SNIPER, the AP reports, because the plaintiff’s attorney told jurors during closing arguments that the publisher’s “insurer is on the hook if you find that Jesse Ventura was defamed” during last year’s trial. The jury awarded Ventura $500,000 for defamation and another $1.3 million for unjust enrichment. Appeals court judge William Riley admonished Ventura’s lawyer, David Bradley Olsen, for being “over the line” with his remarks to the jury, and then challenged […]
People, Etc.
At Graywolf Press, Marisa Atkinson is being promoted to director of marketing and engagement. Casey O’Neil, formerly marketing associate at Milkweed Editions, is joining as sales and marketing manager. Caroline Nitz, formerly publicist at Henry Holt, is joining the press as publicist. Michal Lumsden will join Storey Publishing on November 9 as copywriter & assistant to the publisher . Journalist, editor and author Erin Entrada Kelly has joined Smith Publicity’s book marketing team. At Cave Henricks Communications, Kimberly Petty and Megan Grajeda have been promoted to senior publicist. Publisher of Central Recovery Press Bob Gray, 57, died on October 15, after a long […]