Court Dismisses Agent’s Lawsuit
New Jersey literary agent Barbara Bauer sued 19 bloggers and Web sites, claiming they ruined her reputation, but a Superior Court judge dismissed the defamation-of-character lawsuit, ruling that federal law immunizes interactive Internet services from liability for publishing material generated by others.
ABFFE Gets Victory in Indiana
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression won last week when an Indiana federal judge dismissed a state law requiring retailers to register “sexually explicit” material. ABFFE had joined the Media Coalition to challenge the constitutionality of the law in the courts. ABFFE president Chris Finan called the decision “a resounding victory for the First Amendment rights of booksellers and their customers,” and, days after the decision came down, Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter said his office would not seek to appeal the decision.
Changes at Shakespeare & Co. Branch
The Shakespeare & Co. Bookseller location on East 23rd Street in Manhattan will stop selling trade books and turn its ground-floor and basement retail space over to DaVinci Artists Supply. The store, near Baruch College and the School of Visual Arts, will continue to sell college textbooks during textbook seasons.
Simply Audiobooks Offers RH Titles DRM-free
Toronto audiobook retailer Simply Audiobooks will make more than 5,000 Random House audiobook titles available for purchase and download in a DRM-free format. The downloads can be played on a wide variety of MP3 players, thanks to the lack of Digital Rights Management software designed to limit usage. (eMusic was the first e-tailer, in 2007, to offer RH’s titles DRM-free.)
Chicken Soup Going In-House, Getting New Distribution
Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC, which is under new management as of April, is going with a new distributor. Simon & Schuster will handle sales of its new titles into the trade. Health Communications Inc., which had been publishing and distributing the Chicken Soup brand, will hold on to the Chicken Soup backlist and continue to both publish and distribute those titles.
New Chicken Soup owners Bill Rouhana and Robert Jacobs—who come from the telecom and television industries, respectively—-bought the company’s assets and have brought the publishing in-house. Rouhana and Jacobs, who said they will not be altering the brand, plan to launch a Chicken Soup Web site.
Eldredge Leaving Thomas Nelson for Doubleday
Bestselling Christian author John Eldredge has moved houses. The founder of Ransomed Heart Ministries, who been publishing with Thomas Nelson, signed a two-book deal with Doubleday Religious Publishing. Aside from a forthcoming companion DVD to his March title, Walking with God, the author has no new titles planned with Nelson. Eldredge said the move came out of a desire to “explore new opportunities in the general market.” According to Doubleday there are over nine million copies of Eldredge’s books in print.
