At a hearing this morning before Judge Denny Chin, November 9 was set as the date for the Google Books Settlement parties to submit their revised version of settlement. Attorney for the Authors Guild Michael Boni indicates to the WSJ they hope to “seek final approval of the amended pact in December or early January”–implying that Chin would remain with the case, and no additional notice would be provided to class members. Chin indicated that “he expected he will only allow objections to any new provisions.” He said, “Everyone has a pretty good idea what’s on the table. Targeting the […]
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Appeals Court Hears Salinger Argument; One Judge Calls New Book "Dismal"
The Second Court of Appeals heard arguments on Thursday in the appeal of Judge Deborah Batts’ pre-publication blocking of Fredrik Colting’s 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye. Judge Guido Calabresi made it clear that he thought Colting’s book was a “rather dismal piece of work if I may say so.” Calabresi did question Salinger’s attorney as to “whether the lower court judge might need to hear more evidence because the case relates to the First Amendment.”AP
Reading Rainbow Ends After 26 Years
Sadly, PBS’s groundbreaking program Reading Rainbow broadcast its final episode last Friday after 26 years, led by host LeVar Burton. It was the third-longest running children’s show on PBS, after Sesame Street and Mister Rogers, winning two dozen Emmys along the way. John Grant at public broadcaster WNED in Buffalo said that no was willing to invest the six-figure sum needed to renew the show’s broadcast rights. NPR says the lack of support is due in part to a “change in philosophy as to how television should teach reading,” placing a “heavier focus on the basic tools of reading — […]
PM Second Quarter: Traffic Still Up
People seemed to enjoy our first “quarterly report” earlier this year, so we’re taking another crack it for the second quarter. Our true page views continue at the the first quarter’s pace of increase, up almost 20 percent compared to a year ago (and even up 3 percent over our record-setting Q1), and unique visitors are increasing even faster, at 32 percent. Interestingly, page views even as we actually lowered daily views of the Automat after hot-linking many of the morning’s stories in Lunch. Deal reports were mixed this time around: April continued the uptick from February and March, up […]
A Publishing-Centric Observation on Palin's Resignation
While we wouldn’t pretend to know the cause of Sarah Palin’s resignation from office, we have realized at least one effect: the size of her book advance will probably never be known publicly as a result. You may recall that attorney Robert Barnett submitted exclusively to Harper, helping ensure that Palin’s advance would remain private initially. At the time it was presumed that the advance would be revealed subsequently when she disclosed her income as required by Alaska’s laws every March. But the Alaska statue would appear to require disclosure only up until when she leaves the governor’s office (“after […]
Preliminary Injunction Blocks Salinger Non-Sequel
Though preliminary injunctions blocking publication of a book are quite rare, Judge Deborah Batts was so thoroughly convinced that Fredrik Colting’s 60 YEARS LATER infringes CATCHER IN THE RYE that her decision didn’t even seem close. Her written opinion is a sweeping rejection of virtually every argument made on Colting’s behalf. “There is a substantial similarity between Catcher and 60 Years, as well as between the character Holden Caufield and the character Mr. C…such that it was an unauthorized infringement of plaintiff’s copyright.” She found that 60 Years “contains no reasonably discernable rejoinder or specific criticism of any character or […]