As we suggested early on, while some authors will receive nice checks as a result of the landmark Anthropic copyright infringement settlement, the big winners will be publishing companies, which stand to collect many hundreds of millions of dollars. Following formal approval of the settlement earlier this week, Bloomsbury is the first (publicly traded) publisher to issue a release celebrating their expected profit. With 14,087 Bloomsbury titles covered by the settlement, the company’s fifty percent share of proceeds will yield just over $22 million.
Finance
BNED to Pay A Dividend
Barnes & Noble Education announced final fiscal 2026 results on Thursday afternoon, in line with the advance estimates provided last month. After recording net income for the first time since fiscal 2017, earning $16.9 million for the year, BNED said it would pay an inaugural dividend of 8 cents per share to shareholders of record on July 16, 2026. For the full year, the company had sales of $1.715 billion. Same-store sales rose by $71.3 million, up 4.4 percent for the year. Adjusted EBITDA was $76.5 million, and total debt at year-end was $71 million. They opened 50 stores during […]
TG Jones Restructuring Plan Expected to Win Approval This Week
The draconian restructuring plan to keep UK bookstore chain TG Jones (FKA WH Smith) operating is expected to win court approval after hearings Monday and Tuesday, as at least some creditor groups have agreed to accept owner Modella Capital’s terms. Unnamed sources have told the media (including the Telegraph, Bloomberg and the Guardian) that “a number of key creditor groups, landlords among them, have accepted TG Jones’ proposal before the court hearing.” Property development company British Land, after loudly objecting, “said it would…abstain from voting following what it described as material concessions from TG Jones to treat landlords more fairly.” […]