Open Road Dodges $1 Million Bullet

Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald has denied HarperCollins’s bid to recover more than $1 million in attorney fees from Open Road; the fees stem from a copyright infringement case relating to Open Road’s e-book edition of Jean Craighead George’s Julie of the Wolves. Buchwald did however award HarperCollins the statutory maximum of $30,000 in damages, and issued a narrow final injunction.

Scribd Adds 30K Audiobooks to Service

Subscription e-book service Scribd announced that it now offers unlimited access to more than 30,000 audiobooks. V-p Julie Haddon said the agreement will provide access to audio titles from Blackstone, HarperCollins, Naxos, Scholastic, and other companies.

Indigo Has Solid Second Quarter

Comparable store sales at Indigo’s superstores rose 9.6% in the second quarter of its fiscal 2014 over the same period last year; sales increased 2.4% at its small-format outlets. The higher comps translated into a 5.4% sales increase overall, to C$189 million. The Canadian chain cut its second-quarter net loss to C$8.5 million, from C$10.1 million a year ago.

Crown Reorganizing Christian Publishing Units

Crown Publishing has announced a significant reorganization of its Christian publishing operations that includes the retirement of Steve Cobb, president and publisher of WaterBrook Multnomah.

Start Publishing Buys Cleis Press

Start Publishing, which has bought a number of e-book publishing companies over the last 18 months, purchased the assets of San Francisco–based Cleis Press, including its Viva Editions and Tempted Romance imprints, in its biggest acquisition to date.

Oyster Adds Recommendations

E-book subscription service Oyster is adding a Book Lists feature to expand its ability to offer book recommendations to readers. Subscribers can create personal lists of titles, and Oyster has invited a number of well-known authors and publishers to produce their own Book Lists for the service.