France’s Conseil d’Etat, the country’s highest court, ruled on Wednesday in support a law first passed in 2022 that sets a minimum delivery fee of €3 for online book orders of less than €35. The law was designed to support local brick-and-mortar stores from unfair competition from Amazon, which had been charging a delivery fee of only one euro cent on book deliveries. France has long limited book discounting, and in 2014 they banned free shipping on discounted books–leading to Amazon’s minimal charge. Last December, the EU Court of Justice had returned the matter to French courts for further evaluation, […]
Legal
Judge Rules Termination of NEH Grants Was Unconstitutional
In a lengthy, detailed and often incredulous 143-page opinion, District Court Judge Colleen McMahon found in summary judgement that the mass termination of over 1,400 National Endowment for the Humanities grants in April 2025 by DOGE “was unlawful because it was undertaken in violation of the First Amendment, in violation of the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment, and without statutory authority.” Additionally, “DOGE officials lacked statutory authority to identify, select, or direct the termination of NEH grants” and “the resulting terminations were ultra vires [Latin for beyond the powers].” The two cases were brought by the Authors Guild […]
Callaway Attorney Says Company is Looking For a Buyer
At a bankruptcy court hearing on Wednesday, Nicholas Callaway continued to blame other people for his business failure, especially the one entity that was willing to loan him money. Bloomberg reports, “Getting loans from banks or other traditional lenders after the pandemic was difficult, Callaway said. The publisher borrowed $2 million from a foundation, but the loan included onerous terms that contributed to the bankruptcy filing, including a $1 million premium and penalties, he said.” The most recent court filings show a secured lien from the Hoffen Family Foundation, for $1.034 million. Callaway’s current attorney (multiple former attorneys are creditors) […]
Judge Dismisses Meyer Infringement Cast
In a California Federal Court, Judge Otis D. Wright II carefully read and compared Stephenie Meyer’s BREAKING DAWN and Jordan Scott’s THE NOCTURNE and dismissed Scott’s case alleging copyright infringement. As Judge Wright summarized, “plaintiff simply argues that the works are similar in three particular respects: the marriage sequence, consummation of the marriage on a beach, and the childbirth.” In comparing the works, he finds that “the plots and themes in the subject books have little in common,” “the settings and characters in the two works are vastly different,” oh and also, “the characters are similarly different.” While both books […]
Cengage Sues Houghton Over College Sale, Saying they Pumped Market with Cheap Books
Cengage Learning filed suit against Houghton Miffln Harcourt in a Manhattan Federal Court, seeking at least $20 million and alleging breach of warranty, misrepresentation and bad faith. They allege that Houghton pumped inexpensive college textbooks to international buyers with “known propensities to redistribute these textbooks back into the U.S. market through unauthorized distribution channels” prior to the sale of the division. They complain that those sales inhibited Cengage’s ability to sell to legitimate international distributors and poisoned the US market as those companies redistributed the cheap copies back into the home market. Cengage claims HMH agreed “to not behave ‘outside […]
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