Not much detail on this story as yet, but it seems Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook service, has agreed a settlement with the seven publishers – Chronicle Books, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishing Group, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, and Simon & Schuster – that jointly sued the company for its intended use of captions with third-party audiobooks.
The programme had been intended to launch in September 2019, but the lawsuit by the publishers in August, arguing copyright violation, put the project on hold.
News emerged at end December of a pending settlement when Emily Reisbaum, Audible’s attorney, advised the Court that they were optimistic agreement was near.
Now a letter from Reisbaum dated January 13 has asked the judge, Valerie Caproni, to allow until January 21 to submit the settlement proposals for the Court’s approval.
No details have been made public about the terms of the settlement, although we can safely assume both sides will be declaring victory.
Via The Bookseller.
