A Texas state court jury has ruled in a 10-2 decision that Jennifer Lynn Pedroza, former chief marketing officer of Australian publisher The Writers Coffee Shop, is entitled to a share of the proceeds of the publisher’s most prominent titles, EL James’ FIFTY SHADES trilogy, which TWCS originally published before selling the rights to Random House. Pedroza (along with Christina Beebe and Jennifer McGuire) was among the four original partners, along with Amanda Hayward, and Pedroza’s complaint filed last May alleged that Hayward “tried to convert Coffee Shop into TWCS, an Australian sole proprietorship that she, alone, owned. She signed a contract with […]
Legal
Apple Set to Challenge Special Monitor’s Role to Appeals Court Next Month
While we’re waiting for the Second Circuit of Appeals’ ruling on Apple’s appeal of the verdict finding them guilty of antitrust violations in launching their ebookstore — not expected for months — a related appeal will go before the court next month. Apple is continuing to challenge the appointment of special monitor Michael Bromwich, who oversees Apple’s compliance with the antitrust verdict, calling it illegal and unconstitutional. The WSJ remains squarely in favor of Apple’s efforts, with an extensive report identifying “new reasons for the Second Circuit to sack Mr. Bromwich and end what is a major abuse even by the standards of […]
Gerritsen Plans Amended Complaint to Continue “Gravity” Contract Breach Suit Against Warner
Last Friday Los Angeles District Court Judge Margaret Morrow granted Warner Bros.’ motion to dismiss Tess Gerritsen’s breach of contract lawsuit, filed at the end of April. Gerritsen’s original complaint alleged she should receive credit and net profit participation on the movie “Gravity,” directed by Alfonso Cuaron, which she said was partly based on her 1999 novel of the same name. Gerritsen sought legal remedy for what could “no longer be dismissed as coincidence” after learning that Cuaron had been attached to her project as far back as 2000. Gerritsen had originally contracted with Katja productions, a shell corporation of New Line […]
Authors Guild Drops Further Action in HathiTrust Lawsuit
The Authors Guild’s long-running copyright infringement lawsuit against the has finally reached the end with the announcement that the Guild will no longer pursue any legal action. The news comes after the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed portions of a lower court ruling, finding that the HathiTrust digital library’s full-text search and display of texts to the print-disabled qualified as fair use. (The Guild had criticized that the ruling and said three months ago that it would “announce its next steps shortly.”) Under the new agreement that drops any further re-examination by the lower court, the HathiTrust libraries represent to the Guild that their copying […]
After Winning Judgment From Kyle Estate, Ventura Sues HarperCollins
Six months after winning a $1.8 million award from the Chris Kyle estate in his defamation lawsuit, former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura has filed suit against HarperCollins — publisher of AMERICAN SNIPER — in Minnesota Federal Court, seeking damages “in excess of $75,000” for defamation. As in the earlier suit against Kyle (and later, after his 2013 death, Kyle’s estate), Ventura takes issue with the “Scruff face” chapter in American Sniper, which documents an alleged fight between Kyle and Ventura and attributes anti-American remarks to Ventura which he denies ever making. “The publicity and controversy generated by the false and defamatory […]
All Sides Grilled During Oral Arguments for Apple’s Appeal
An extended oral arguments hearing Monday morning at the 2nd Circuit Court of appeals did not immediately make clear how the three-judge panel would rule on Apple’s appeal of 2013’s ebook antitrust trial, but it did show the court would not spare any side thorough questioning — often to entertaining effect. Ted Boutrous, arguing for Apple, spent much of his allotted 20 minutes comparing his client’s “extraordinary case on antitrust law” to that of Leegin, saying the precedent set by the Supreme Court in that case would be ignored if Judge Denise Cote’s 2013 ruling finding Apple guilty is allowed to stand. […]