Penguin blames 'intolerant' Indian laws for pulping of book

Publisher says it was forced to withdraw Wendy Doniger's book The Hindus because of law threatening jail for insults to religionPenguin India has said "intolerant and restrictive" Indian laws forced it to remove a book from sale after it tried to defend an American author's religious history against objections from a conservative Hindu group.The publisher's decision this week to withdraw and pulp all copies of the historian Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternative History shocked writers and intellectuals in India, with some worrying it was a sign of rising intolerance against dissent in the country.Doniger defended Penguin India in a statement, saying the publisher had battled for four years against a lawsuit filed by the Hindu group Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti (Save Education Movement).The group objected to the book's description of mythological texts as fictional and said it hurt "the religious feelings of millions of Hindus", according to the lawsuit, which also named Doniger and the New-York-based arm of the publisher Penguin Group Inc as defendants.Penguin India said it "believes, and has always believed, in every individual's right to freedom of thought and expression, a right explicitly codified in the Indian constitution", according to a statement from the company released on Friday.It warned, however, that India's penal code would "make it increasingly difficult for any Indian publisher to uphold international standards of free expression".The code,... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mulholland Books acquires debut by "Saw" writers

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 09:04 Hodder thriller imprint Mulholland Books has acquired a fiction debut by "Saw" writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and author, screenwriter and illustrator Stephen Romano. Editor Ruth Tross bought British... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Knitting book proves favourite Royal Wedding yarn

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 14:50 Fiona Goble's 64-page Knit Your Own Royal Wedding (Ivy Press), which comes with a backdrop of Westminster Abbey "so that you can display your creations in authentic surroundings", is the current sales leader in the incredibly... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As Library E-Books Live Long, Publisher Sets Expiration Date

While librarians are pushing for access to more ebooks to satisfy demand, publishers are reconsidering how much that access should be worth. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's Books Publishing in Asia

In most parts of Asia, wizardry and fantastical plots have lost much of their magic after dominating the bestseller list for so long. The subsequent vampire and werewolf fever is, by comparison, not as rabidly welcomed in certain territories. As for that wimpy kid, well, his popularity suffers... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Changing copyright laws could "stifle" literature, report finds

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 08:50 Changing copyright laws in the UK could strike a blow to investment in literature, a report has found. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) has produced the document for the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), which reveals that out... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of World Book Night titles 'double'

Written By: Lisa Campbell and Philip Stone Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 16:27 Sales of the selected 25 World Book Night titles soared by over 100% at W H Smith, amid a wider trade sales boost, following television coverage, events and book giveaways to mark its inaugural year. On 5th... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin plans peachy Dahl celebration

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 10/03/2011 - 15:15 James, Aunts Spiker and Sponge, as well as the Centi­pede, Ladybird and Earthworm will be celebrated this spring as Puffin publishes a 50th anniversary edition of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, and launches a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Grace Dent to Leave Twitter for Faber/Guardian Books

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Club Associates sold to Webb Group

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 16:00 Online bookseller Book Club Associates (BCA) has been sold to a retail home entertainment supplier. The Webb Group, which supplies retail home entertainment products including games, DVDs, music and gifts, announced the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sainsbury's launches own-brand kids' books

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 07/03/2011 - 09:00 Sainsbury's has launched a range of own brand pre-school children's books, publishing eight titles in collaboration with Dorling Kindersley. The titles went on sale on Saturday [5th March] in more than 200 of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin to treble investment in digital content

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Back in 1984, I wrote a book that sold to a lot of libraries. It stayed on the shelves for over a decade. If it had been an ebook published today by HarperCollins, there's a good chance it would have been off those shelves within a year. Or sooner. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Adults and teenagers still prefer prints books to ebooks, WBD survey says

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBS to begin online auction of non-book stock

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital book buyers 'more realistic' over ebook prices

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House US to bring 17K books to iBookstore

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The European Union’s competition regulators carried out unannounced inspections into various eBook companies on Tuesday. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House E-book Change May Pave Way to IBookstore

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[ PC World | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beginning Tuesday, Random House will join other major book publishers in selling its ebooks using the so-called agency model, setting its own prices for ebooks while the retailer takes a commission. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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