Publishing lawsuits: a current summary

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Naomi

From today’s Publisher’s Marketplace, a long list of lawsuits involving the publishing business. Indeed, the first sentence of this report contains this phrase, “…the course of publishing continues to turn on litigation as much as innovation.” That sort of makes me gasp.

Six Months of Lawsuits

As we’ve continually reported over the past few years, the course of publishing continues to turn on litigation as much as innovation. In the most anticipated ruling of the year so far, the Court of Appeals recently upheld the antitrust verdict against Apple in a heatedly divided ruling that portends further appeal. The payout a settlement of up to $400 million to consumers (and another $50 million in legal fees) now hinges on whether Apple continues to pursue the case.

Other ongoing cases of note include the FCS bankruptcy proceedings, and the suits against Author Solutions, along with the recently-opened antitrust investigation into Amazon’s ebook sales contracts in the European Union.

To keep track, here is a roundup of notable disputes, ongoing and resolved in 2015 so far:

Apple vs. the DOJ, States, and Consumer Class

Authors vs. Author Solutions

Family Christian Bankruptcy

New Cases

Ongoing

  • After Judge William Pauley certified the author class in a lawsuit against Harlequin last October, various motions were filed that set a schedule preparing for a trial some time in 2016. Discovery and expert witness testimony is scheduled to be completed by March 21, 2016, and a final pre-trial conference is set for April 29, 2016.
  • Jesse Ventura‘s lawsuit against HarperCollins, filed last December, was stayed in January pending a decision from the Eight Circuit of Appeals on Ventura’s lawsuit against the Chris Kyle estate, which he won last July.

Resolved

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