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Rathbones Folio Prize Names Its 2023 Winners

…England’s Rathbones Folio Prize in February announced three categories of competition–fiction, nonfiction, and poetry–for the winners being announced at a program tonight in London (March 27). Not only the three category winners but an overall “book of the year” prize drawn from those three has been announced in that British Library soiree. Read more

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Judge Eviscerates Internet Archive’s Scanning and Lending Program

In an emphatic 47-page opinion, federal judge John G. Koeltl found the Internet Archive infringed the copyrights of four plaintiff publishers by scanning and lending their books under a legally contested practice known as CDL (controlled digital lending). And after three years of contentious legal wrangling, the case wasn’t even close.

“At bottom, IA’s fair use defense rests on the notion that lawfully acquiring a copyrighted print book entitles the recipient to make an unauthorized copy and distribute it in place of the print book, so long as it does not simultaneously lend the print book,” Koeltl wrote in a March 24 opinion granting the publisher plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and denying the Internet Archive’s cross-motion. “But no case or legal principle supports that notion. Every authority points in the other direction.” Read more

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John Steinbeck’s House May Become a Writers Retreat

John Steinbeck’s home in Long Island’s Sag Harbor may soon secure its place in literary history, thanks to an impassioned coalition of readers, writers, and booksellers. The Sag Harbor Partnership; the town of Southampton, N.Y.; and the University of Texas at Austin have joined forces to purchase Steinbeck’s beloved summer cottage, which is currently for sale for the first time in 60 years. The goal: to preserve the property to use as a writers retreat, hosted by UT Austin’s Michener Center for Writers. Read more

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