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 […]
Legal
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 […]
Legal: Update Due on Julie of Wolves, Apple Gets Another Hearing, Guild Helps MacAdam/Cage Authors
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 […]
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 […]