Goosebumps author removes references to weight, mental health and ethnicity
3 March 2023 (The Telegraph)
R.L. Stine is re-releasing e-books of his horror fiction but has taken out ‘plump’, ‘crazy’ and a character’s African American heritage.
Z-library is Back
27 February 2023 (The Gazelle)
After getting shut down by US authorities, the well-known e-book piracy website has returned to the public access internet with unique domains for each user. While never truly offline, Z-library had been pushed into the dark web until recently due to legal repercussions. A Z-library blog post published on Feb. 11 announced its comeback on public-access Internet.
Sony Prepares the Final Nail in the Coffin of its E-Reader Business
27 February 2023 (Gizmodo)
Existing installations of the Reader software will still continue to function, but those hoping to install it again one day on another machine will want to make sure they download and archive a copy of the installer. As of April 1, it will no longer be available from Sony’s website.
Commission seeks to ease publisher restrictions on loans of eBooks from libraries
27 February 2023 (Irish Examiner)
The Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is currently examining the restrictive terms applied to the licensing of eBooks in both public and academic libraries. The Library Association of Ireland has previously warned that libraries here are encountering more and more issues with eBooks including “scandalous” price increases, restrictive licensing terms, and a lack of availability.
Roald Dahl eBooks Automatically Updated to Woke Censored Versions
27 February 2023 (Breitbart)
The ongoing controversy over the decision by Puffin, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, to censor new editions of Roald Dahl books has taken another dystopian twist, with owners of Roald Dahl ebooks reporting that their copies have been automatically updated to the new, woke versions. The publisher’s decision to airbrush Roald Dahl children’s books with woke language, with altered texts including classics like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The BFG has attracted widespread outrage, particularly in Great Britain.
Amazon removing titles from Kindle Unlimited due to ebook piracy issues
27 February 2023: (Torrent Freak)
Several independent publishers have had their books removed from Kindle Unlimited because they breached an exclusivity agreement with Amazon. The actions of the book giant are covered by the mutually agreed terms. However, in many cases, it’s not the authors who breached the agreement, but pirate sites who copied them, as pirates do.
ChatGPT launches boom in AI-written e-books on Amazon
22 February 2023 (Reuters)
ChatGPT appears ready to upend the staid book industry as would-be novelists and self-help gurus looking to make a quick buck are turning to the software to help create bot-made e-books and publish them through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing arm. Illustrated children’s books are a favorite for such first-time authors.
With New Model Language, Library E-book Bills Are Back
23 February 2023 (Publishers Weekly)
Library advocates are back with new model legislation they say can help ensure “fair and equitable licensing terms in e-book contracts for libraries” while avoiding the thorny copyright issue that doomed Maryland’s law.
Oral Argument Set in Internet Archive Copyright Case
21 February 2023 (Publishers Weekly)
Months after a final round of reply briefs was filed, a federal judge is now ready to hear oral arguments for summary judgment in a closely watched copyright case filed by four major publishers against the Internet Archive over its program to scan and lend library books.
Audiobook Narrators Fear Apple Used Their Voices to Train AI
14 February 2023 (Wired)
After a backlash, Spotify paused an arrangement that allowed Apple to train machine learning models on some audiobook files.
More Ebook Industry News (back to Aug 2017)
