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On Re-Reading Kid's Books

Is there more than meets the eye? The BBC looks at hidden messages in children's books.

It’s only as adults that we make the mistake of thinking that children’s literature, along with fairy tales, is essentially escapist. When we pick these books up decades later, we’re surprised to learn what we doubtless always sensed as kids, even if we lacked the vocabulary to articulate it: that these stories are about eternal human strengths and weaknesses, about how to exist in the world.

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Game of Thrones: Bigger, and Bigger, and—

The Guardian reports on the future of Game of Thrones: spinoff shows, maybe a feature movie, a prequel.

Google, Viacom, YouTube

A copyright infringment case dating from 2007 and involving Google, Viacom, and YouTube has been settled without money changing hands.

The case had addressed a key question for the digital age: should networks be responsible for proactively guarding against infringement on their sites, or must rights holders be forced to send DMCA takedown notices in "whack-a-mole" fashion to stop unauthorized uses?

And:

While the settlement does not directly affect the book business, copyright experts have seen the case as a test of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's "safe harbor" provision, which can shield Internet service providers from liability for the infringing behavior of its users—including those who might post unauthorized portions or entire books online.

Harper Collins vs. Open Road

Publishers Weekly recounts that the decision against Open Road turned on the absence of the word "print" in the original contract.

The message seems clear: rather than negotiate a higher royalty and make money on a digital edition with an author who has already sold nearly four million books, HarperCollins chose to spend money on lawyers, and to litigate. For now, with a win in district court, the decision appears to have paid off, although HarperCollins still must agree to terms with George's estate if it is to publish a new e-book edition with HarperCollins.

The How To Of Book Pricing

You're book's all finished, ready to roll out, so how do you price it? Cheap, so it may seel lots of copies. Or rather more expensive, to suggest its excelent quality? Publishers Weekly talks about it.

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Building Fiction With Facts

Publishers Weekly discusses how to build fiction with facts, and what to do when the facts aren't what you'd like.

Tech Literate Are the Biggest Library Users

Contrary to some thinking, it appears that technologically literate people are also the biggest users of libraries, chunks of dead trees included in all the other resources. PBS expands on this.

In advance of today’s hearing before the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary on "Exploring Alternative Solutions on the Internet Sales Tax Issue," the two largest retail trade associations, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Retail Federation, urged lawmakers to level the playing field between local retailers and remote sellers.

Publishers Weekly explores the objections by two trade organizations to the advantage e-tailers have in selling anytime, anywhere.

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