Notes: McNally Robinson Emerges; Google Settlement Objections
Canada's McNally Robinson Booksellers emerged from bankruptcy protection this week, and owner Paul McNally "believes there is still a strong future for the industry," CBC News reported.
"It's a conclusion of a process that was punishing [and] very emotional," he said. "It involved terminating a lot of employees and as you surely know, is deeply emotional and painful. A lot of money was lost."
The company had filed for bankruptcy protection and closed two of its stores in December (Shelf Awareness, January 4, 2010). "Insolvency documents filed with Industry Canada show the company
posted losses of more than $2 million in the 2009 financial year,"
according to CBC News. McNally said the two remaining shops--in Winnepeg and Saskatoon--have always been profitable.
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Objections to the revised Google book settlement were still being filed as
today's deadline approached. Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District
Court had set a fairness hearing for February 18 to decide whether to
approve it.
While the Steinbeck and Guthrie families have made their peace with the settlement (Shelf Awareness, January 22, 2010), the estate of Richard Wright described the deal as "grievously flawed" in a last-minute statement, the New York Times reported.
"The Google Book Settlement is attempting to clinch a deal behind closed doors on a matter so far-reaching and so packed with heavy ramifications for the future of human society, that only multinational public arbitration would be appropriate," wrote Julia and Malcolm Wright, daughter and grandson of the author.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon raised "many of the same objections it made to the first. In particular, the books giant argued that the agreement overreaches and violates the U.S. Copyright Act. 'The (settlement) continues to give Google exclusive rights likely to lead to a monopoly,' it read."
Professor Pam Samuelson of U.C. Berkeley submitted an objection on behalf of a group of academic authors, observing: "We do not believe that the settlement of a class action lawsuit is a proper way to make such a profound set of changes in rights of authors and publishers, in markets for books, and procedures for resolving disputes as the (settlement) would bring about."
The Open Book Alliance also filed comments objecting to the settlement, according to the Washington Post. OBA co-founder Peter Brantley said, "There were some cosmetic changes but the substance is the same in that it imposes a Google monopoly and violates laws."
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Barnes & Noble has received a subpoena from New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for information regarding an investigation into online retailers who link customers to discount clubs that charge hidden fees. In a statement, B&N confirmed it has had a relationship with Webloyalty since 2005, but has never provided the firm with any customer credit or debit card information.
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Seattle University's bookstore advisory committee has recommended that the school's campus bookstore remain independent rather than be outsourced. The SU Spectator reported that the university's announcement it had considered outsourcing for the spring quarter 2009 "sparked outrage from faculty and students, some of whom created a Facebook group against outsourcing."
"We're very excited about the decision," said Bob Spencer, bookstore manager. "The staff is energized."
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Tomorrow on Twitter, the late Molly Ivins's life, work, wit and wisdom will be celebrated as the third anniversary of her death approaches. PublicAffairs (@Public_affairs), publisher of the new biography Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life; the Texas Observer (@TexasObserver), her former paper; and Vintage/Anchor (@VintageAnchor), publisher of her books, are remembering Ivins and celebrating her courageous, irreverent personality by organizing this Twitter remembrance. Fans can to tweet their favorite Mollyisms, stories and memories using the hashtag #MollyIvins.
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Arrrr! Ever wonder what a book pirate is thinking? The Millions interviewed "The Real Caterpillar," who might be "the publishing industry’s ideal customer, an avid reader who buys dozens of books a year and enthusiastically recommends his favorites to friends. But he’s also uploaded hundreds of books to file-sharing sites and he’s downloaded thousands."
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Book trailer of the day: Just Don't Fall: How I Grew Up, Conquered Illness, and Made It Down the Mountain by Josh Sundquist (Viking), who lost his leg to cancer as a child and ended up ski racing in the 2006 Paralympics. The trailer is called "The Amputee Rap."
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Novelist Tiffany Murray, who chose her top 10 rock 'n' roll novels for the Guardian, said, "I love these novels because they attempt to capture threshold, anarchic times where anything might happen; that, to me is rock 'n' roll."
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Whitney Peeling, whose last day as director of publicity at PublicAffairs is today, is leaving soon for India and Bangladesh, where she will do volunteer work.
Effective February 8, Jaime Leifer is returning to PublicAffairs as director of publicity after a stint in the PR department of the New Yorker.
Congratulations to both!