Judge dismisses US booksellers’ DRM class action against Amazon, publishers
In the US, Federal Judge Jed Rakoff has dismissed a class action against Amazon and the big six publishers that was filed by three independent bookstores in February, reports Publishers...
Higher tax rate imposed on DRM-ebooks under new French law
France has passed an amendment to its tax laws that increases the tax rate for ebooks with digital rights management (DRM), reports Le Nouvel Observateur. The amendment, which will come into force in...
Bridget William Books launches digital shorts imprint
New Zealand publisher Bridget William Books (BWB) has launched a new series of short digital-only books called BWB Texts. BWB launched the new series in March with Paul Callaghan: Luminous...
Publishers, Amazon move to dismiss bookstores’ class action
In the US, the big six publishers and Amazon have filed separate motions to dismiss the class action lawsuit filed by three bookstores earlier this year, reports Publishers Weekly. In...
Bookstores’ class action against Amazon, publishers could go to trial in October
In the US, Judge Jed Rakoff has set an aggressive schedule for the class action lawsuit filed by three bookstores against Amazon and the big six publishers, telling the parties that...
Bookstores file class action against Amazon, big six publishers
In the US, three independent bookstores have filed a class action complaint against Amazon and the big six publishers that centres on the use of digital rights management (DRM) to...
New ebook platform for authors, publishers launched
A new Australian ebook retail platform for authors and publishers has been launched. Bkclb has been developed by author and designer Connor Tomas O’Brien and developer Fred Fan. The platform...
Italian publisher launches DRM-free imprint
Italian publisher RCS Libri has launched a new digital-first imprint which will publish books free of Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection, reports the Bookseller. The publisher will release Italian and English...
Sleepers drops DRM with Booki.sh
Following the announcement that it has dropped digital rights management (DRM) protection from its ebook titles available through Kobo, Sleepers Publishing has announced that its ebooks are now also DRM-free on...
Sleepers drops DRM with Kobo, other vendors to follow
Independent publisher Sleepers Publishing has announced that it has dropped digital rights management (DRM) protection from its ebook titles available through Kobo. Sleepers creative director Zoe Dattner told Bookseller+Publisher that...
Momentum to drop DRM on all titles
Pan Macmillan’s digital-only imprint Momentum has announced its titles will be released without digital rights management (DRM) protection by August. ‘We feel strongly that Momentum’s goal is to make books as...
Quote of the week
‘In the end, it took Joel [Naoum] and I all of about two minutes to decide that all of my ebook-only titles would be sold at the lower “American” price and...
Jani Patokallio: Why ebooks will soon be obsolete
Ebooks will be obsolete within five years, claims Jani Patokallio. Crippled by territorial license restrictions, digital rights management, and single-purpose devices and file formats that are simultaneously immature and already...
Digital publishing program at MWF
A full-day digital publishing program was held for the industry and public on Thursday 28 August during the Melbourne Writers Festival. The daytime events were all chaired by Queensland Writers...