The daughter of Eric Knight, author of Lassie Come Home, prevailed over Classic Media in a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling handed down on Friday that reversed a 2006 District Court decision and affirms Winifred Knight Mewborn’s 1996 letter terminating Classic Media’s rights. Variety says “the court’s opinion addressed a complicated issue of copyright law involving whether the law’s termination of transfer right is eradicated by a post-1978 assignment of the rights. In a victory for authors and their heirs, the court held that their rights are not terminated.”Click here for the PDF of the court’s rulingVariety article
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UK Agents Compete for Estates
Savvy agents have long known the advantages of representing well-established literary estates and now following the diminution of PFD, the gloves are off in London. The Times says: ” No point wasting one’s time with new authors. They’re unpredictable, demanding. They require lunch. No, what any literary agent worth his salt needs in 2008 is a classic author with form: famous, prolific and deceased within the past 70 years. In recent months, the literary estate – the body of work belonging to a dead author – has suddenly and unexpectedly become big business.” As previously reported, Andrew Wylie took over […]
New Owner on DGNA
CEO of the Najafi Companies Jahm Najafi spoke briefly to the WSJ about his deal to purchase Direct Groug North America (DGNA) from Bertelsmann: “We’re very excited about this because we see great brands and excellent marketers. We have extensive experience in the online world and think we can change the nature of this business and grow it dramatically. We also think we can extend the club model to other products and services. We have never shied away from difficult businesses.”As the Journal notes, DGNA had sales last year of 900 million euros ($1.42 billion), with approximately 13 million members. […]
Pre-Pub Buzz for "Guernsey"
Last Friday’s WSJ highlighted hopes for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, “a debut novel with several strikes against it [that] may become one of the summer’s surprise hits.” Notably, “one of its co-authors died earlier this year when it was being edited.” But Dial says it will ship 100,000 copies, noting that booksellers “began to send unsolicited emails expressing their affection” after a broad distribution of advanced readers’ copies. “Barnes & Noble and Costco have placed large orders” and it’s the No. 1 IndieBound pick for August as well.WSJ
What Does It Meant When Authors Write to Dear Abby?
DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, “Scott,” and I are writers, although we both have day jobs. During the two years we’ve been together, we have always supported each other’s writing careers. Things changed after my first novel was published. While initially congratulatory, Scott’s behavior was different as the publication date neared. He declined to help my friend throw me a party. When I spotted my book on the shelf of a bookstore for the first time, he chided me to keep my voice down. My novel has now been out for months, but he still hasn’t read it. (I gave him […]
A Buyer for Direct Group NA
The answer to the question “who would want to buy that?” Phoenix-based investment firm Najafi Companies has bought Bertelsmann’s North American Direct Group assets, which include their family of book clubs along with Columbia House. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter and financial terms were not disclosed. (It was subsequently revealed in Bertelsmann’s annual report that the sale “generated proceeds of €19 million,” and Bertelsmann recorded a capital loss of €-18 million.) CEO Jahm Najafi says in the announcement, “We are very excited to enter the direct-to-consumer business and to work closely with Direct Group North America’s […]