December 20, 2014

Update: Justice Files Agency Pricing Suit; Three Publishers Settle

This article has been updated to include information on the state lawsuits and Canadian, publisher statements, and links to the proposed settlement and competitive impact statement, courtesy of Infodocket. The Department of Justice today filed its antitrust suit against Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster over the agency model of ebook pricing. […]

ALA, Authors Guild, 3M Weigh In on Penguin-OverDrive Dispute

Penguin Ebook Overdrive Update

Penguin’s decision to terminate its contract with OverDrive has further fractured the library ebook lending market, disturbed the American Library Association, and highlighted the difficulty in finding a single business model that all parties can be comfortable with. And the executive director of The Authors Guild says that public libraries are being put in an “awful situation” by the conflict that has embroiled the large commercial entities of Penguin, Amazon, and OverDrive.

Penguin Group Terminating Its Contract with OverDrive

penguin-group

In a stunning development, Penguin Group has extricated itself from its contract with OverDrive, the primary supplier of ebooks to public libraries.

SLJ Reviews: Chopsticks, the App

Chopsticks_app

Everyone’s buzzing about the format-bending young adult novel, Chopsticks, by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral, released last week in print and as an app. Here’s our assessment.

Penguin Further Narrows Library Access, Suspending Availability of Audiobook Titles

After deciding in November to end public libraries’ access to its new ebook titles, Penguin Group withdraws audiobook titles as well.

Lawsuits, Investigations of Ebook Pricing Proliferate and Consolidate

Apple Inc. and the Big Six publishers are facing a widening array of investigations and lawsuits that allege they conspired to illegally fix ebook pricing in an effort to undermine Amazon’s competitive edge.

Penguin’s Ebook Decision Has Chilling Effect on School Libraries

girl with ereader and headphones

Penguin’s suspension of Kindle access to its titles for libraries reaffirmed one librarian’s decision to go the public domain route, rather than spend money on titles only to have the rights potentially taken away.

Penguin Restores Kindle Lending, but Still Not Providing Digital Editions of New Titles

(This item has updated from an earlier version to include Penguin’s statement.) Penguin Group (USA) has backtracked from at least part of its recent decision to limit library lending. OverDrive posted the following on its Digital Library blog Wednesday morning: ‘Get for Kindle’ for all Penguin eBooks in your catalog has been restored as of […]

Librarians Face Patrons Unhappy With Penguin Policy Change; ALA Condemns Ebook Decision

Penguin’s decision to no longer allow libraries to lend its new ebook titles has created consternation among librarians and stirred speculation about the “security concerns” Penguin cited.

Penguin Group USA to No Longer Allow Library Lending of New Ebook Titles

Penguin Group

Penguin Group USA has joined the ranks of Big Six publishers who will not offer ebook titles via OverDrive’s catalog.
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