A precedent setting legal case regarding digital works is currently underway in Maryland. On January 1, a Maryland law went into effect that requires Ebook publishers to license libraries on reasonable terms.Library associations have been advocating for more fair-minded terms which would allow them to access to Ebooks at lower prices. The groups say libraries pay too much … [Read more...] about Maryland Digital Works Law Challenged
Business News
Manga Piracy Crackdown Goes Global
Starting this April, thirteen countries are coming together with the goal of fighting intellectual-content piracy. The newly formed International Anti-Piracy Organization (IAPO) requires global cooperation; websites holding pirated content often use offshore servers.Big advocates of film, television, music and the streaming industry are also getting on board. The Motion … [Read more...] about Manga Piracy Crackdown Goes Global
CES 2022 underway, set to conclude a day early
The yearly Consumer Electronics Show that is held in Las Vegas has kicked off despite major companies and brands pulling out. Fears over the ongoing pandemic and the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 have led the organizers of the event to make a tough decision. CES 2022 will conclude a day early, cutting back the last day of the show from Jan 8 to Jan 7, 2022.While the … [Read more...] about CES 2022 underway, set to conclude a day early
Amazon forced to remove ratings, reviews of Chinese president’s book
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s book, The Governance of China is in the news but for all the wrong reasons. For according to a Reuters report on this, Amazon removed all feedback on the book after being nudged by the government there to do so. This happened two years ago so that the book isn't accompanied by any reviews, comments, or ratings on the Amazon China page.Amazon … [Read more...] about Amazon forced to remove ratings, reviews of Chinese president’s book
UK customers can’t buy a Kindle with Visa Cards anymore
Amazon is having a dispute with VISA and their high fees in the United Kingdom. Amazon emailed most of their customers and said that starting on January 19th, 2022, customers will no longer be able to place orders for any products, using Visa, on the Amazon.co.uk website. They clarified that no other credit cards, such as Mastercard, AMEX or Visa debit cards, would be included … [Read more...] about UK customers can’t buy a Kindle with Visa Cards anymore
Indigo Books records a 16.3% profit in the past three months
Indigo Books and Music has reported that in the past three months, which they recognize as the second quarter of 2021. Their strong sales performance has resulted in double-digit revenue growth with improvements across both print and general merchandise that exceeded both last year and pre-pandemic levels. Specifically, sales were $238.8 million, a 16.3% increase over last … [Read more...] about Indigo Books records a 16.3% profit in the past three months
Storytel is entering the US market with acquisition Audiobooks.com
Storyel is quickly becoming one of the largest audiobook and ebook subscription services. They got their start in 2006, primarily marketing their services in the Nordic countries. Over the years they have made a few minor acquisitions, primarily to get access to more titles. They currently operate in 25 different countries, such as Russia, Spain, India and the United Arab … [Read more...] about Storytel is entering the US market with acquisition Audiobooks.com
Spotify Acquires the largest audiobook wholesaler Findaway
Findaway has been in business since 2005 and they are the largest wholesale distributor of audiobooks. They have over 350,000 titles in their catalog and power the digital collections of Scribd, Nook Audiobooks, Kobo, Storytel, Google Audiobooks and a myriad of others. One of the leading growth avenues have been their "Voices" system, which allows indie authors to quickly find … [Read more...] about Spotify Acquires the largest audiobook wholesaler Findaway
US Justice Department Investigating Penguin Random House and S&S Merger
Penguin Random house accounts for 1/4 of all books published in the world, which includes audiobooks and ebooks. Last November, the publisher announced they were going to acquire Simon and Shuster for $2.175 billion in cash. This give PRH access to authors such as Stephen King, Hillary Clinton and John Irving. Things have been fairy quiet since the announcement, as various … [Read more...] about US Justice Department Investigating Penguin Random House and S&S Merger
HarperCollins ebook revenue increased by 16%
HarperCollins reported that their publishing revenues generated close to 2 billion dollars from June 30th, 2020 to June 30th 2021, up 21% year over year. Revenue growth was driven by higher consumption trends and contributions from the buyout of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Higher frontlist and backlist sales, comprising the series of Bridgerton titles by Julia Quinn and The … [Read more...] about HarperCollins ebook revenue increased by 16%
Indigo Books and Music sales declined 5.5%
Indigo Books and Music has reported in their yearly financial results that their revenue declined 5.5% and generated revenue of $904.7 million compared to $957.7 million last year. The time period of this revenue was from March 28, 2020 to April 3, 2021, so basically they did well, all things considered. The vast majority of their stores were completely shut down in 2020 and … [Read more...] about Indigo Books and Music sales declined 5.5%
Hachette ebook sales declined in the first six months of 2021
In the first six months of 2021, Hachette saw a decline in ebook sales. Worldwide revenue fell from roughly €97 million in the first half of 2020 to €90 million in the first six months of 2021. Digital audiobook sales generated €52 million, from €48 million last year.Worldwide revenue at Hachette Book Group rose 14.8% in the first half of 2021 over the first six months of … [Read more...] about Hachette ebook sales declined in the first six months of 2021
Joan 6 Pro is a new meeting room e-paper display for enterprise
Visionect has just announced the Joan 6 Pro, which is a six inch E INK display that is aimed at enterprises and used for meeting rooms. This new product is available as a pre-order and will be shipping out in August and retails for $769. It comes with a full one year subscription to the backend software, which is used to display text and book meeting rooms, through a web … [Read more...] about Joan 6 Pro is a new meeting room e-paper display for enterprise
