Valve fails to get out of paying its EU geo-blocking fine

Valve has failed to convince a court that it didn't infringe EU law by geo-blocking activation keys, according to a new ruling. The company argued that, based on copyright law, publishers had the right to charge different prices for games in different countries. However, the EU General Court confirmed that its geo-blocking actions "infringed EU competition law"and that copyright law didn't apply."Copyright is intended only to ensure for the right holders concerned protection of the right to exploit commercially the marketing or the making available of the protected subject matter, by the grant of licences in return for payment of remuneration," it wrote in a statement. "However, it does not guarantee them the opportunity to demand the highest possible remuneration or to engage in conduct such as to lead to artificial price differences between the partitioned national markets."The original charges centered around activation keys. The commission said Valve and five publishers (Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media and ZeniMax) agreed to use geo-blocking so that activation keys sold in some countries — like Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Latvia — would not work in other member states. That would prevent someone in, say, Germany buying a cheaper key in Latvia, where prices are lower. However, doing so violates the EU's Digital Single Market rules, which enforces an open market across the EU. The five developers were given a reduced fine of €7.8 million (over $9.4... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-09-27 12:20:53 UTC ]
News tagged with: #koch media #zenimax agreed #czech republic #member states #germany buying #cheaper key #open market #reduced fine #full €1 #locking keys #region locks #local laws #original €1 #ten days #copyright law

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Valve fails to get out of paying its EU geo-blocking fine'


Did the media fail Elizabeth Warren?

And then there were two. (And Tulsi Gabbard.) On the last day of 2018, Elizabeth Warren fired the starting gun on the 2020 Democratic primary; yesterday, two days after her poor Super Tuesday returns, she dropped out of the race. After announcing her exit, Warren went outside her house to... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-03-06 12:48:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #music criticism #racist tropes #woody allen #democratic candidate #dylan farrow #hachette #publisher hachette


Iconic book publisher Simon & Schuster is on auction block

ViacomCBS puts Simon & Schuster up for sale. The publishing house is not a core asset, and the newly merged ViacomCBS is looking to shed properties. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-03-04 17:33:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book publisher


The Sunday shows fail to link the coronavirus and the campaign

Over the weekend, two huge news stories—the coronavirus and the 2020 presidential campaign—took significant steps forward. On the virus front, we learned of the first and second deaths on US soil, both of which came at a hospital in Washington state; at least one local scientist believes that... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-03-02 13:00:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pro-democracy movement #racist tropes #thomson reuters


Trump Is Directly Trying to Block Publication of John Bolton’s Book

The president has called his former national security adviser a traitor and says the highly anticipated memoir shouldn't be published before November. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2020-02-22 15:12:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #block publication #john bolton #memoir


Haynes pays tribute to founder John H Haynes with new biography

Haynes Publishing is paying tribute to its late founder John H Haynes with a new biography in April.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-18 10:43:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


New YA novel from Anne Fine for David Fickling

David Fickling Books is publishing a new "laugh-out-loud" YA novel from former Children’s Laureate Anne Fine OBE, called Shades of Scarlet. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-16 23:38:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ya novel


OUP makes a start on its gender pay gap

The latest gender pay gap report released by Oxford University Press shows a small lessening of its median pay gap, down just under 1% to 12.5% in the year to March 2019. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-14 02:08:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #oxford university press


LinkedIn’s SlideShare is a vast emporium for pirated e-books. Authors are paying the price

From bestsellers to textbooks, stolen content is easily found on a 14-year-old hosting service operated by Microsoft’s social network. Mid-level writers are hurt the most. If you want to purchase a copy of The Institute, Stephen King’s latest novel about supernatural kids, you could find it at... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2020-01-15 13:00:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #low price #stephen king #pirated e-books #local bookstore #local library #bookstore


Concern for children's book market as The Book People fails to find buyer

Trade figures have said the failure of The Book People to find a buyer, leading to 155 redundancies, could have ramifications for the children's book market.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-14 05:00:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book market #trade figures #book people #children's book


Trade pays tribute to Sonny Mehta, 'one of the greats'

Publishers, agents and authors have paid tribute to Sonny Mehta, chairman of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, who died on Tuesday (30th December) at the age of 77 from complications from pneumonia. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-30 20:17:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sonny mehta #paid tribute


Book of Lists: Retirement plan payout boosted Mount Sinai CEO's pay above $12 million in 2017

In the Dec. 23 print edition of the Book of Lists, you’ll find hundreds of CEOs, presidents and other top executives listed alongside the organizations they run. Even more business leaders are... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2019-12-23 17:08:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #$12 million #business leaders


PA welcomes EU court ruling on e-book exhaustion rights

​The Publishers Association has welcomed the latest ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the exhaustion of e-book rights, which has found the re-sale of second-hand e-books infringes copyright.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-19 20:42:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers association #e-book


Hodder pays tribute to late author Frank White

The author and playwright Frank White, whose novel There Was a Time was published by Hodder in 2017, has died at the age of 92. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-18 09:56:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hodder


Publishers pay tribute to 'inspiring' Nell Gifford

Publishers have paid tribute to Nell Gifford, the co-founder of Giffords Circus, who has died at the age of 46. Gifford had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and she died on Sunday (8th December), surrounded by family "both immediate and circus", Giffords Circus confirmed in a statement. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-10 02:52:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #paid tribute #breast cancer


HarperCollins releases 2019 gender pay gap with 'progress being made'

HarperCollins is closing its gender pay gap with the median difference reducing from 10.2% to 8.8% in its latest filing. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-28 11:20:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harpercollins


Hachette gender pay gap report: 'moving in the right direction'

Hachette UK has reported on its gender pay gap for 2019, revealing it has made some progress in closing the gender data gap in its core publishing divisions after increasing the number of higher paid women in its upper echelons. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-28 05:24:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hachette uk #upper echelons #hachette


Trade pays tribute to 'icon' Gary Rhodes

The industry has paid tribute to the "forward-thinking rebel” TV chef and author Gary Rhodes who died this week aged 59. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-27 23:26:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #paid tribute


Educational Publishers File Suit to Block Sale of Pirated E-books

The country's largest educational publishers have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop pirate sites from illegally selling their e-books and have won a temporary restraining order. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-11-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pirated e-books #block sale


SoA calls on government to commit to future EU copyright law

Ahead of Brexit and the imminent General Election, the Society of Authors has called for a commitment from the next government to follow future EU copyright law and the EU’s Digital Single Market Strategy, and to remain within Creative Europe or else increase domestic funding for the arts. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-21 19:26:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #soa calls #copyright law


Is Chuck Palahniuk Too Big to Fail?

With a new book, a new publisher, and a new agent, Chuck Palahniuk is feeling unusually good for a man who’s just survived one of the toughest stretches of his career. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-11-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chuck palahniuk