Judge Backs Dismissal of ‘Implausible’ Amazon, Big Five Price-Fixing Suit
A federal judge has recommended that a potential consumer class action lawsuit accusing Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin Random House of co-conspiring with Amazon to fix ebook prices through the use of various forms of a Most Favored Nations clause be dismissed, agreeing with the lawyers for Amazon and the publishers who insisted the alleged conspiracy was irrational and implausible with no direct evidence to suggest collusion.
Federal Judge Keeps Wentzville Book Review Policy in Place
A federal judge in St. Louis, Missouri has declined to temporarily halt the Wentzville School District’s book review policy after the ACLU of Missouri sued the district on behalf of two Wentzville students in February, arguing books had been removed solely because the main characters were people of color and members of the LGBTQ community. A trial on whether to permanently ban the district from enforcing its policy is currently set for October 2023.
Alabama Poet Laureate Ashley M. Jones Awarded $50,000 Grant from the Academy of American Poets
Alabama poet laureate Ashley Jones has been awarded $50,000 by the Academy of American Poets to support her civic poetry program in the upcoming year. Jones will use the funds to help implement the Alabama Poetry Delegation, her project which seeks to engage and support poetry projects and poets across the state. Jones will identify five regions and five regional delegates to shepherd poetry projects over three years.
A Michigan Public Library May Close Due to Conservative Propaganda
After a year-long battle with the Jamestown Conservatives over refusing to censor its LGBTQ+ content, the Patmos Library did not win its primary ballot measure to renew its millage rate past the spring of 2023.