Last week Forbes uncovered two previously unreported lawsuits in US tax court which saw thriller writer Karin Slaughter square off against the Internal Revenue Service. While the suits themselves are interesting on their own, they are particularly relevant for authors with respect to the classification of book royalties as self-employment income, something the IRS has held for more than six decades. The first suit, which Slaughter settled with the IRS in July, covered the 2008 tax year, for which the IRS “had been demanding $146,155 in tax and a $29,231 penalty on top of the $1.14 million [Slaughter] originally paid.” […]
Legal
Coincidentally, Amazon’s Apple Settlement Notifications Immediately Follow Apple’s Event
Isn’t it an amazing coincidence that just as Apple is receiving massive media coverage for their introduction of new iPhones, Apple Pay and Apple Watch, Amazon has dispatched the latest round of consumer notification emails to ebook purchasers about the pending settlement with Apple? Of course consumer notification is “directed” by the court, so Amazon has to do this — as will all the other etailers (including the iBookstore) at some point. So consider this Amazon’s response to Apple’s recent promotion of books by George Orwell…. The salient point for consumers is that they only have until October 31 to […]
Apple Shareholders Sue Executives Claiming Agency Pricing Lawsuit “Caused Damages”
Apple may have settled its ongoing litigation over ebook pricing with the plaintiff states and consumer class earlier this summer (pending the outcome of the company’s appeal of Judge Cote’s 2013 ruling), but some of the same issues return in a new, derivative lawsuit launched by a single shareholder last Thursday in Santa Clara County California State Court. That complaint claims that Apple ceo Tim Cook and other executives, including Eddy Cue and directors Al Gore and Bill Campbell, “bear responsibility for ensnaring Apple in a multi-year anticompetitive scheme” and engaged in “breach of fiduciary duties, waste of corporate assets, and unjust […]
Settlement Announced in 2010 Lawsuit Against Google Books By Photographers and Artists
Though Google has won a number of victories in court recently supporting their claim of fair use over text captured and shared by Google Books and other related enterprises, the company has remained potentially more vulnerable to separate copyright infringement claims brought against Google Books by photographers and visual. (As far back as 2012 Google’s attorneys told the court they were in some kind of settlement discussions with those groups.) On Friday afternoon — when companies love to avoid attention — Google announced they had agreed to settle a 2010 lawsuit brought by a diverse group of photographers, visual artists […]
People, Etc.
Will Atkinson will join Atlantic Books as managing director and publisher on October 1. Previously he was sales and marketing director at Faber, where he spent the past 20 years. Atlantic chairman Peter Roche said in the announcement “At Faber, [Atkinson] has demonstrated an unrelenting enthusiasm for independent publishing tempered with an unparalleled zeal for negotiating the best deal. I’ve admired Will’s work for many years and believe he is the perfect person to head up Atlantic Books. Rowan Cope will join Simon & Schuster UK as editorial director on October 13. Previously she was a senior editor at Little, […]
Judge Cote Gives Preliminary Approval To Apple Settlement With States & Consumers
Despite reservations expressed earlier in a teleconference, Judge Cote gave preliminary approval to Apple’s settlement with the states and consumer class, which would see the company pay anywhere from $450 million if Apple’s appeal is denied to nothing if the appeal is completely reversed. The judge did find it “most troubling” that if the appeal is reversed and remanded to her court Apple would pay only $50 million. But in the 9-page order, Judge Cote said the plaintiffs “emphasize that they ‘strongly believe’ that the Remand Scenario is unlikely to occur,” with class counsel Steve Berman asserting this belief further in a July 30 letter. […]