Google wins fair use ruling against the Author’s Guild (pdf link)– The Google Book Settlement was thrown out and the case proceeded forward as fast as a newborn snail. A summary judgment ruling from Judge Chin (now on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals) gave Google a decisive victory. Scanning a ... more >
A Message from John Sargent – On Friday, DOJ filed papers indicating that the last publisher, Macmillan, had agreed to settle the price fixing suit. John Sargent had said in his previous letter to “Authors, Illustrators and Agents” (no readers in Sargent’s equation) that he wasn’t going to settle because ... more >
Introduction This post is to help ebook buyers understand their rights and deadlines in the price fixing settlement. Minnesotans, this post is not for you. Nor does it apply to those in DC or one of the five Territories or Commonwealths It’s about the ebook price fixing settlement and for ... more >
Introduction In 2004, Google undertook an ambitious project to scan and preserve every printed piece of material in the world. This eventually caused great consternation with copyright holders and led to The Authors Guild filing a lawsuit, among others, alleging that Google’s scanning and subsequent book text index was an ... more >
I’m changing things up a little. More and more people apparently read the news roundup that I post every day and therefore I’ve decided to post the news posts first thing in the morning. That’s when most people read the news and thus Dear Author can be a consistent morning ... more >
Introduction I wasn’t going to do anything other than mention that Barnes & Noble objected to the proposed settlement between the government and three publishers: Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster but the adulatory statements of those publishing insiders about the statement really irked me and therefore, I had to ... more >