News
Amazon Squeezes Long Tail
April 4, 2008. Last week Amazon announced that it would be requiring that all print-on-demand books that it sells be printed by BookSurge, Amazon's on-demand printer/publisher. Amazon pitched this as a customer service matter, a means for more speedily delivering print-on-demand books and allowing for the bundling of shipments with other items purchased at the same time from Amazon.
We, and many others, think something else is afoot.
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Going to BEA 2008, Los Angeles?
We are again offering discounts for Authors Guild Members to Book Expo America, from May 29 to June 1. Three-day passes for members are $75 (reduced from the standard price of $175) and one-day passes are $45 (reduced from the standard price of $100). We’ll be at booth #3228. Please stop by and say hello. More...
Reversal in Freelance Class-Action Settlement
November 29, 2007. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, in a 2-1 decision, the district court's approval of the settlement.
The news is stunning. The appellate court ruled that the district court lacked jurisdiction over claims relating to unregistered freelance articles. It was an issue that no one brought up on appeal.
The appellate court's opinion.
More...
- 5/2/07: Decision on Freelance Suit Expected Soon
- 10/21/05: Appeal Delays Freelance Settlement Payouts
- 9/27/05: Court Approves Settlement of Freelance Class Action
- 3/29/05: $18 Million Settlement Reached in Database Suit
- Authors Guild Lawsuit Against Major Databases in Mediation
- 7/27/01: Authors Guild & New York Times Agree on Ads, Disclosure
- 7/05/01: Authors Guild and Freelancers Bring Class Action Against New York Times
- Class Action Complaint
- 6/25/01: Freelancers Win Historic Decision On Electronic Rights
Authors Registry Passes $5 Million Milestone
November 6, 2007. The Authors Registry, the not-for-profit organization founded by the Authors Guild and others in 1995, has now distributed more than $5.2 million to authors. The Registry has paid more than $1 million to authors this year alone, a record for the organization. More...
Dead Celebrities Bill Dormant; May Revive
June 22, 2007. The New York State Assembly and Senate adjourned their regular sessions yesterday without taking action on the "Dead Celebrities" bill. This is good news. More...
Apology, Movement from Simon & Schuster
June 1, 2007. Simon & Schuster executives yesterday apologized for "any early miscommunication" regarding reversion of rights, according to the Association of Authors' Representatives (the literary agents' organization). S&S is willing to negotiate a "revenue-based threshold" to determine whether a book is in-print, says the AAR. The AAR's alert follows. More...
- 06/19/07: The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) Opposes S&S Contract
- Graphic Artists Guild Warns Members of S&S Contract
- 5/31/07: Authors Guild Announces Its "Republish or Perish" Campaign
- 05/23/07: Authors Guild Responds to Simon & Schuster's Charge of "Perpetrat[ing] Serious Misinformation"
- 05/23/07: SFWA Joins Guild Position on Simon & Schuster Rights Grab
- 05/18/07: Simon & Schuster: We'll Negotiate on Reversion of Rights Clause
- 05/17/07: Simon & Schuster Appears To Be Seeking A Permanent Stake In Authors' Copyrights
Literary Papers Tax Bill Needs Your Support
May 3, 2007. In an e-mail to members, the Authors Guild asked for support of the Artist-Museum Partnership Act, which has been reintroduced in the House and Senate. The bill would allow authors to deduct from their income for federal tax purposes the fair market value of donated manuscripts and other literary papers. More...
Global Chilling Update: Major Libel Ruling in London
October 11, 2006. The House of Lords, the United Kingdom's highest court, ruled today that British journalists may now publish allegations about public figures without fear of libel claims, provided that they acted responsibly and in the public interest in carrying out their reporting.
A recent Authors Guild Foundation panel discussed how British libel law was affecting American authors. We don't yet know whether or how the ruling will apply to book publishing, but we're trying to find out more information.
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Trademark Bill Threatens Free Expression
February 14, 2006. A bill that would drop express protection for "noncommercial use" of a trademark and would weaken the protections for those who use trademarks in news commentary will be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, February 16. The legislation has already passed the House.
The Guild is encouraging writers in states represented on the Judiciary Committee to contact their senators about the bill.
More...
Is Google a charity? Some handy talking points for the Google suit.
September 23, 2005. In an e-mail to members, the Authors Guild lays out some basics about the class action suit against Google. More...
Authors Guild Sues Google, Citing "Massive Copyright Infringement"
September 20, 2005. The Authors Guild and a Lincoln biographer, a children's book author, and a former Poet Laureate of the U.S. filed a class action suit today in Manhattan against Google over its "Library" program. The suit charges the $90 billion company with massive copyright infringement. More...
Jung Biographer Stands Firm, Wins
October 19, 2005. This past summer, heirs of Carl Jung pressed a German imprint of Random House to insert "corrections" to the text of the German language edition of a Jung biography by Authors Guild member Deirdre Bair. With the help of Guild attorney Anita Fore, Bair succeeded in having her lauded biography published without alteration. More...
BEA 2008 Discounts: Save up to $100
The Authors Guild is pleased to again offer discounts to Book Expo America, which is in Los Angeles from May 29 to June 1. More.
sb2.authorsguild.net
Health Insurance
The Guild offers discounted health insurance plans to authors and journalists. Plans now available for much of NY, MA, and FL from providers such as Oxford, CIGNA, Harvard Pilgrim and Tufts. Health plan info.
Guild Builds Websites for New Members
The Authors Guild is now building websites for new members at no charge. Full features, your own dot-com address. $6 per month hosting fee. More.
Author Domains
The Guild's proceeding to retrieve the ".com" names of nine authors set legal precedent. Read story.
Midlist Study
The 52-page report commissioned by the Authors Guild Foundation and the Open Society Institute and published in 2000 on the state of the publication, marketing and sales of midlist books: Read report.
Credits
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• StarQuest Media
Regain Your Rights
Learn how to terminate transfers under § 203 of the Copyright Act (download PDF).
Copyright Forms
To register a manuscript, use Form TX. (If you are the only author and copyright holder and the work is new, you may use Short Form TX.)
Freelance journalists may want to register their collected work every 90 days and save registration fees. Use Forms GR/CP and TX to do this.
Download Forms.
You must file within 90 days of publication for maximum statutory protection, but even delayed filings provide valuable protection for your works.
The fee for filing either TX form is $45. There's no additional fee for filing GR/CP with a TX form.
For more than 90 years the Guild has been the authoritative voice of American writers...