The Google Book Search Settlement is back in court. Surely you remember the Google Book Search Settlement? — actually, it’s the settlement that wasn’t, but in case you’ve forgotten, here’s our story so far: It started back in 2005, when Google was sued by essentially…
Today, mom died. Or maybe yesterday, I do not know. I received a telegram from the Asylum: Mother died. Funeral tomorrow. Distinguished sentiments. This does not mean anything. It might be yesterday. That’s Google Translate‘s take on the famous opening passage of L’Etranger, elsewhere translated by Joseph Laredo as: Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know. I had a…
In one of the most muddled, disorganized, deceitful and cynical series of policy shifts in recent business history, Google has once again announced that it is ending its partnership selling ebooks with independent booksellers — except this time, the company says it really means it.…
More than half a million books were published in 2011. In the United States and beyond, the book industry is growing increasingly crowded. The bad news for publishers is fierce competition and a saturated marketplace. The good news is that public consumption has grown exponentially,…
eBookNewser reports that Google is bringing its digital bookstore to France in the near future. While there is no set date yet, French literary magazine Actuallité says that Philippe Colombet, head of Google’s book scanning project in France, has confirmed that plans are in the works…
It’s a bit of a reversal of the normal flow of piracy, but you can now add a group of Chinese authors to the list of current litigators suing Apple, Inc. It seems Apple has “accidentally” listed and sold several Chinese authors’ works within their…
We’ve noted many times that Google‘s commitment to selling ebooks has been shaky at best. After launching its ebookstore with great ballyhoo, it then walked away from the program just weeks later … then came back … then walked away again … then said no…
It’s annoying enough to see a moniker as bad as the “Kindle Single” find a lasting place in the bibliographic lexicon, but it’s far more frustrating to find it understood as anything other than branding. In a New York Times article discussing the pleasures and…
It seems Amazon hasn’t run out of other businesses to threaten yet — according to a Business Insider report by Henry Blodget, no less than Google should be running scared of the growing behemoth from Seattle. Says Blodget, “One big threat to Google’s core search…
In one of the most transparent fibs of the year, and amidst a wash of bad publicity, Google announced yesterday that it hadn’t meant to kick numerous indie booksellers out of its Google eBook affiliates program, it meant to — um, well, they didn’t say.…
