Barnes & Noble has settled with Spring Design over the 2009 lawsuit on whether the Nook’s design breached patent agreements for the now discontinued Alex Reader. Under terms of the agreement, Spring is granting Barnes & Noble a non-exclusive license for all of its patents and patent applications. Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.Release McGraw-Hill has bought Bookette Software Co., a privately held provider of automated scoring for tests, including written exams.Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Release AbeBooks’ European division will acquire ZVAB.com, a leading online marketplace of German rare antiquarian books, from Mediantis AG. The acquisition […]
News
Harper Explains E-Book Circulation Cap As A Way to “Find the Best Model For All Parties”
With librarians growing increasingly (and vociferously) critical of HarperCollins’ recent announcement that it would cap e-book lending circulation to 26 checkouts, President of Sales Josh Marwell published an open letter outlining the rationale for the company’s decision. Early on he states HarperCollins’ goal is “to continue to sell e-books to libraries, while balancing the challenges and opportunities that the growth of e-books presents to all who are actively engaged in buying, selling, lending, promoting, writing and publishing books.” Arriving at the number 26 came about after “many months examining the issues”, discussing the matter with agents, distributors and librarians. In […]
Briefs: HMV Warns It May Violate Banking Covenants; Debts Owed to REDGroup Creditors; Lewis Sued for Defamation by Asset Manager; and More
As speculation mounts over whether minority stakeholder Alexander Mamut will buy Waterstone’s, the chain’s parent company HMV warned investors this morning that it expects to violate banking covenants as a result of full-year profits falling below expectations. While HMV said it was in talks with lenders to amend its credit loan agreements, which remain available, chief executive Simon Fox admitted in a statement that “trading conditions remain tough, reflecting a difficult consumer environment as well as the changing markets in which we operate.” He added that HMV “is adapting quickly to respond to these external factors, and we are confident […]
Pearson Freezes Libyan Government’s Minority Stake
In its earnings call yesterday Pearson admitted it was “uncomfortable” with the Libyan Investment Authority being its fifth-largest shareholder. Today the company announced it will freeze the LIA’s stake, valued at 3 percent last June but now at approximately 3.27 percent, or 26,572,179 shares. Pearson states that, per legal advice, “under The Libya (Financial Sanctions) Order 2011 (SI 2011 No. 548), Pearson considers that the ordinary shares in the company which are held by or on behalf of the LIA are subject to the Order and are therefore effectively frozen.” They have since informed the LIA and its nominees that […]
HarperCollins to Cap eBook Loan Licenses
As has been widely reported, HarperCollins announced Friday that for new titles released on or after March 7, library ebook vendors will be able to circulate these titles a maximum of 26 times before the license expires and libraries will need to buy a new license. The news first emerged in a letter from OverDrive CEO Steve Potash to member libraries, which at that point said the distributor was “required to accept and accommodate new terms for eBook lending as established by certain publishers.” The letter further noted that the new limits apply to “all eBook vendors or distributors offering […]
Bookselling: Waterstone’s Sales Talk; Foyles on the Move; Nontraditional Outlets; and More
Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, who has increased his stake in Waterstone’s to more than 6 percent over the past few weeks, is now reportedly in talks with the company to buy the chain outright in a joint bid with founder Tim Waterstone. Mamut has hired Credit Suisse to assist in the potential bid. ThisIsMoney.co.uk Foyles will move its flagship space from its current home on 113-119 Charing Cross Road, where it has been since 1906, to a new store down the street sometime in 2013. The nearly 75,000 square foot space, almost double the present location, was bought by Foyle […]