Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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Australian publisher of ‘Fifty Shades’ ordered to pay $18.6m

A Texas judge has ordered Australian Amanda Hayward pay US$11.5m (A$16.2m) in unpaid royalties and US$1.7m (A$2.4m) in attorney’s fees to American Jennifer Lynn Pedroza, her former partner in The Writer’s Coffee Shop (TWCS), the original publisher of the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ series.

According to the Guardian the figure was determined after an audit of TWCS’s finances. Judge Susan McCoy found the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ novels made the business at least $US40m (A$56.45m).

Pedroza’s attorney Mike Ferris told the Guardian they felt ‘vindicated’ but said they ‘also realise it’s not over yet’. Hayward’s attorney David Keltner told the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram they are preparing an appeal.

Pedroza was one of four original partners in TWCS, which first published the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ series as ebooks and later sold the publishing rights to Random House.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, Pedroza filed the lawsuit in 2014. In February 2015 a jury found Hayward had defrauded Pedroza over royalty rights to the series, and in August 2015 McCoy ordered Hayward to set aside US$10.7m (A$15.10m) prior to an audit of the business to determine the final amount.

 

Category: Local news