Late Friday, as scheduled, HarperCollins filed its first brief outlining the relief and damages it wants from Open Road Integrated Media for publishing the digital edition of Jean Craighead George’s JULIE OF THE WOLVES, following Judge Naomi Reece Buchwald’s grant of summary judgment in Harper’s favor in March. Harper seeks the maximum statutory damages “of no less than $30,000 for Open Road’s blatant infringement,” attorneys’ fees and costs totaling almost $1.1 million, a permanent injunction barring Open Road’s publication, and “such other and further relief as this Court may deem just and proper.” Harper says in its filing that Open Road’s infringement has continued following Judge Buchwald’s […]
Legal
The Washington Post On Their Owner, and VF On Judge Cote
After being needled for not mentioning the dispute over contract terms between Amazon and Hachette Book Group that has resulted in alterations in how the etailer displays and ships HBG titles, the Washington Post has posted something…equivocal. The paper’s column finds it “understandable” that authors “are irate over the unequal treatment.” On the one hand, Amazon “is by no means unique in employing this tactic.” But “in some ways, Amazon’s decision to choke off Hachette is similar” to the net neutrality showdown, they suggest. “As Amazon gains more and more market share, its power to do so will only increase.” While […]
Appeals Court Revives One Part of Authors’ Suit Against Harlequin
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed one part of Judge Harold Baer’s ruling from a year ago dismissing a class-action lawsuit brought by authors against Harlequin alleging that the publisher deprived them of ebook royalties. As a result, the suit will resume in its limited form, and is sent back to the District Court “for further proceedings.” The single claim that was restored (from the four claims initially made by the authors) by the Appeals Court is the contention that the licensing fees for ebook rights paid by Harlequin Enterprises to the party of record, Harlequin Switzerland, were not […]
Class Action Suit Against Author Solutions Moves Forward
In mid-April, Judge Denise Cote rejected all of the substantive motions to dismiss a class action suit brought by author/customers against Author Solutions, and the suit will move forward. The parties will proceed to discovery and will submit a proposed pre-trial schedule to the court. One claim of unjust enrichment based on unpaid royalties was dismissed on technical grounds (and is covered by the other claims that are going forward), and corporate parent Penguin was dismissed as a direct party in the litigation — even though corporately, Penguin Random House is ultimately responsible for any judgment against the subsidiary, and […]
Gerritsen Sues Warner Bros. Over Credit on Film GRAVITY
On Tuesday Tess Gerritsen filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. in a Los Angeles US District Court over credit and net profit participation on the “Gravity” movie, which she says was at least partly based on her 1999 novel of the same name. Rather than the typical copyright infringement claim in many movie source disputes, Gerritsen charges the studio with breach of contract. Her 47-page complaint asserts that in accordance with the sale of movie rights to her novel GRAVITY prior to publication in 1999 for $1 million, she is owed a production bonus of $500,000, 2.5 percent of “defined net proceeds,” and […]
Harper and Open Road Go Back to Court On JULIE OF THE WOLVES
The US District Court has now published the update submitted jointly by HarperCollins and Open Road last Friday on the next step in the Julie of the Wolves ebook case. The two companies “have to date been unable to reach a resolution” with respect to the right to license the ebook edition of Jean Craighead George’s JULIE OF THE WOLVES and any damages, six weeks after Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald ruled in Harper’s favor. As previously ordered, they submitted a briefing schedule instead, which Judge Buchwald has accepted. Harper will file its opening brief on an injunction and other remedies […]