Bookstore sales fell 3.7% in March

Bookstore sales fell 3.7% in March, to $922 million, according to preliminary estimates released by the Census Bureau. For the first quarter of 2012, bookstore sales fell 2.3%, to $3.94 billion.

Court Rejects Lawsuit Dismissal

Judge Denise Cote denied motions by Apple and five publishers seeking to dismiss the class action lawsuit brought against them for what the suit contends is fixing e-book prices when they moved to the agency pricing model. The ruling means the civil suit against Apple and Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, and Macmillan can move forward even though the DoJ and states have reached settlements with Hachette, HC, and S&S in other aspects of the case.

MHE’s New Team

The new McGraw-Hill Education executive team will include Patrick Milano, who has been named chief financial officer and chief administrative officer. David Stafford will become general counsel of MHE, while Maryellen Valaitis will become v-p of human resources of the new company. Bruce Marcus will continue to lead the IT team and the higher education digital product development unit. MHE’s spinoff from McGraw-Hill is expected to be completed before the end of the year.