An attorney for Foxy Brown has offered a grab-bag of replies to the suit brought by Simon & Schuster seeking to recover their advance of $75,000. Attorney Laura Dilimetin tells AllHipHop.com that Brown’s “health became a priority” after facing some hearing loss in 2005. “With Simon and Schuster’s blessings, Foxy Brown underwent extensive surgical procedures and a lengthy recovery time, fighting to restore her hearing,” Dilimetin wrote. After her recovert, Dilimetin insists, “Simon and Schuster decided not to go forward with the project,” adding “many attempts were made by Foxy Brown’s agents to resurrect the deal, to no avail.” (Even […]
Legal
Olsson's Wins Conversion to Chapter 11
Struggling under an involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation filing from a group of creditors, Washington, DC-area bookseller Olsson’s was granted a conversion to Chapter 11 status by a Federal Bankruptcy court of Maryland last Friday. Olsson’s listed assets of $929,428 and liabilities of $1,951,629. In a filing from three major publishers, Random House has an unsecured claim of more than $175,000, while Penguin’s claim is more than $171,500 and Hachette is owed just under $40,000. Principal owner John Olsson still expresses hope that the store group will “maintain operations while implementing a plan for successful restructuring.” Comptroller says all they need […]
Legal Fight Over Chicken Soup Split
The Chicken Soup for the Soul series has sparked a legal battle between the new owners and the former publisher, according to an article in the Miami Herald. As previously announced, Simon & Schuster was recently named the distributor for new titles in the line, following the purchase of publishing rights by a Connecticut investment group run by William Rouhana and Robert Jacobs from creators Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. A suit filed in Federal District Court in California “accuses Health Communications with interfering with the sale of the publishing and distribution rights and with trademark violations.” A separate […]
'Lassie' heirs regain rights – Entertainment News, Film News, Media – Variety
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
Sci-fi Writer Andre Norton's Literary Estate in Limbo Pending Appeals Court Review
“Conflicting claims have erupted over the copyrights and royalties” to the late Andre Norton’s work, leaving unpublished work of the SWFA and Nebula Grand Master honoree in limbo. The Tennessee Court of Appeals is reviewing a lower court decision that favored lifelong fan and correspondent Victor Horadam over Norton’s caretaker Sue Stewart.AP