HarperCollins and Open Road were due to advise the court on or before Monday, April 28 about the progress of their “attempt to reach a negotiated resolution” following Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald’s summary judgment in March in Harper’s favor. Judge Buchwald found that Open Road infringed Harper’s exclusive right to license third parties to publish Jean Craighead George’s JULIE OF THE WOLVES in ebook form. Since the ruling affirmed Harper’s right to license ebooks — without weighing in definitively on “whether HarperCollins may undertake such publication itself” — it was logical to infer that parties would make an earnest effort […]
Legal
Authors Guild Challenges Google Fair Use Ruling In Appeal
Last week the Authors Guild formally detailed their appeal of Judge Denny Chin’s November 14, 2013 summary judgment motion in favor of Google, finding that the web giant’s library book-scanning project was protected as “fair use.” The Guild says that the District Court applied “an unprecedented, expansive and erroneous interpretation of the fair use doctrine. The District Court essentially ignored the inherently commercial nature of the Library Project and wrongly determined that the entire program is ‘transformative.’ In doing so, the District Court failed to separately evaluate whether each of Google’s uses, including its reproduction, archival storage and distribution of […]
Macadam/Cage Bankruptcy Trustee Closes Case
The MacAdam/Cage Chapter 7 bankruptcy case has come to an abrupt end, due to the complete lack of assets. In a letter sent to creditors by the attorney assisting Northern California bankruptcy court trustee E. Lynn Schoenmann, the three-month-old bankruptcy (which we first reported on in January) is over as the trustee “determined that there are no realizable assets to be cost-effectively liquidated for creditors in this case and therefore the Debtor’s bankruptcy case is being closed.” The letter added that “because of the closing of the case and the numerous inquiries we have received, we will not be responding […]
Judge Cote Certifies Consumer Class, Excludes Much of Apple’s Expert Witness Testimony
Late Friday afternoon Judge Denise Cote issued two rulings in the ongoing ebook antitrust case. The first finally grants class certification for the consumers who first sued Apple and the Agency Five publishers back in 2011 and officially sought certification last October, in an 86-page order. (The publishers, of course, settled, and consumers started seeing the $166 settlement funds issued just recently as store credit by Amazon, Nook, and other retailers). The second 59-page ruling denied Apple’s bid to exclude the opinions of the plaintiffs’ damages expert while largely dismissing the opinions of Apple’s own experts. With respect to the class, Judge […]
As Customers Receive eBook Settlement Credits, Other Retailers File Antitrust Suits
Amazon customers received a present in their accounts this morning courtesy of the ebook settlements between the “Agency Five” publishers and various state governments: store credit to buy more books (print or ebooks). As previously outlined, customers who bought at least one ebook published by Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin or Macmillan between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012 will get a credit of $3.17 per ebook for New York Times bestsellers, and 73 cents for non-NYT bestsellers. For Minnesotans, who reached a separate settlement, the breakdown is $3.93 for NYT bestsellers and 94 cents for non-bestsellers. Twitter […]
AAP Chair Reidy Calls for “Concerted Effort” to Speak Out On Publishing’s Value
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) annual meeting began with an address from outgoing AAP board chair, Simon & Schuster ceo Carolyn Reidy. With the day’s program focused on the theme of “The Next Chapter in Protecting IP,” Reidy took note of the hearings underway in the House Judiciary Committee as part of a comprehensive review of US copyright law. While acknowledging that “passage of a new copyright act may not occur for years,” Reidy told her colleagues, “We must act now and sustain our commitment for the long haul if we want to assure that our interests, and those of […]