Big publishing houses often buy out small, independent publishers, just to push them (and their books) into oblivion! The #internetArchive was helping to keep those books from being lost to history!

The End of Progressive Book Publishing in the Age of Monopoly Capital?

Tom Engelhardt 09/28/2022

"After all, like Pantheon, at the moment of its demise, it was a lively, deeply progressive operation, churning out powerful new titles — until, that is, it was essentially shut down when Sara, a miraculous publisher like André, was shown the door along with her staff. Bam! What did it matter that, thanks to her, Metropolitan still occupied a space filled by no other house in mainstream publishing? Nothing obviously, not to Holt, or assumedly Macmillan, the giant American publishing conglomerate of which it was a part, or the German Holtzbrinck Publishing Group that owns Macmillan.

"How strange that we’re in a world where two such publishing houses, among the best and most politically challenging around, could find that there simply was no place for them as progressive publishers in the mainstream. André [Schiffrin], who died in 2013, responded by launching an independent publishing house, #TheNewPress, an admirable undertaking. In terms of the #DispatchBooks I still put out from time to time, I find myself in a similar world, dealing with another adventurous independent publishing outfit, #HaymarketBooks.

"Still, what an eerie mainstream we now inhabit, don’t we?

"I mean, when it comes to what capitalism is doing on this planet of ours, book publishing is distinctly small (even if increasingly mashed) potatoes. After all, we’re talking about a world where giant fossil-fuel companies with still-soaring profits are all too willing to gaslight the public while quite literally burning the place up — or perhaps I mean flooding the place out. (Don’t you wonder sometimes what the CEOs of such companies are going to tell their grandchildren?)."

#Libraries #Publishers #Books #Corporations #Monopoly #Censorship #Copyright #Authors #BookPreservation #History #Culture #SmallPublishers #IndepedentPublishers #ProgressivePublishers

https://www.juancole.com/2022/09/progressive-publishing-monopoly.html

Want to borrow that #ebook from the #library? Sorry, #Amazon won’t let you.

May 10, 2021

"Its #monopoly is stopping public #libraries from lending e-books and audiobooks from Mindy Kaling, Dean Koontz, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Trevor Noah, Andy Weir, Michael Pollan and a whole lot more"

#Libraries #Publishers #Books #Corporations #Monopoly #Censorship #Copyright #Authors #BookPreservation #History #Culture #InternetArchive #IA
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/10/amazon-library-ebook-monopoly/

Hold the presses: Feds say #publishing merger would create #monopoly

by Alexandra Jones / November 2, 2021

"The Department of Justice went to court Tuesday to stop the creation of one large book publisher, 'towering over its rivals,' that would result if Penguin Random House is allowed to merge with Simon and Schuster.

"Just five major publishers control the U.S. publishing industry today, and each regularly offers authors high advances and extensive marketing, as well as editorial support, to create best-selling books. While smaller publishers occasionally sign anticipated top sellers, they often can’t shoulder high author advances required and face greater financial turbulence when such books that don't sell as expected.
The merger was arranged by the publishing groups’ parent companies last year when Penguin Random House’s owner, German media group Bertelsmann, agreed to buy Simon and Schuster from ViacomCBS. The acquisition would give Penguin Random House access to a barrage of Simon and Schuster’s bestselling authors, such as Stephen King and Bob Woodward, as well as classic titles like 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Fahrenheit 451.'

"'If the world’s largest book publisher is permitted to acquire one of its biggest rivals, it will have unprecedented control over this important industry,' Garland said in a press release rolled out alongside the complaint. 'American authors and consumers will pay the price of this anticompetitive merger – lower advances for authors and ultimately fewer books and less variety for consumers.'"

#Libraries #Publishers #Books #Corporations #Monopoly #Censorship #Copyright #Authors #BookPreservation #History #Culture

Read more: https://www.courthousenews.com/hold-the-presses-feds-say-publishing-merger-would-create-monopoly/

- Use Library Genesis & Anna's Archive
https://annasarchive.org
http://libgen.st

- Help build or support a shadow library that isn't on some white libertarian nonsense
Then people don't have to use the above two

- Destroy the multinational corporate behemoths behind the lawsuit
(Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House)

- Overthrow the illegitimate government which issued the ruling
Fascist police states built on slavery & genocide are bad, actually

#Libraries #Publishers #Books #Corporations #Monopoly #DigitalLibraries #Censorship #Copyright #FairUse #PublicCommons #DigitalCommons #Authors #BookPreservation #History #Culture #CDL #InternetArchive #LibGen #AnnasArchive #Hachette #HarperCollins #Wiley #PenguinRandomHouse

Today, with the lower court decision against the #InternetArchive, the #USA took another step toward complete and total #Fascism. What can you do? TAKE ACTION!

- Stand up for libraries ✊
Stand up for the digital rights of all libraries! Join the Battle for Libraries: https://www.battleforlibraries.com/

- Support the Internet Archive 📚
Support the Internet Archive to continue fighting for libraries in court! Donate at the link below.
https://archive.org/donate

- Stay connected 🔗
Sign up for the Empowering Libraries newsletter for ongoing updates about the lawsuit and the InternetArchive library.

#Libraries #Publishers #Books #Corporations #Monopoly #DigitalLibraries #Censorship #Copyright #FairUse #PublicCommons #DigitalCommons #Authors #BookPreservation #History #Culture #CDL

Update about the #InternetArchive's court decision

March 25, 2023 by chrisfreeland

"Today’s lower court decision in Hachette v. Internet Archive is a blow to all libraries and the communities we serve. This decision impacts libraries across the US who rely on controlled digital lending to connect their patrons with books online. It hurts authors by saying that unfair licensing models are the only way their books can be read online. And it holds back access to information in the digital age, harming all readers, everywhere.

"But it’s not over—we will keep fighting for the traditional right of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books. We will be appealing the judgment and encourage everyone to come together as a community to support libraries against this attack by corporate publishers.

We will continue our work as a library. This case does not challenge many of the services we provide with digitized books including interlibrary loan, citation linking, access for the print-disabled, text and data mining, purchasing ebooks, and ongoing donation and preservation of books."

#Libraries #Publishers #Books #Corporations #Monopoly #DigitalLibraries #Censorship #Copyright #FairUse #PublicCommons #DigitalCommons #Authors #BookPreservation #History #Culture

https://blog.archive.org/2023/03/25/the-fight-continues/

NY Times covering book preservation:
Floods, Fires and Humidity: How Climate Change Affects Book Preservation #BookPreservation #Preservation #conservation #SpecialCollections https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/07/books/climate-change-book-preservation.html?smid=url-share

Does anyone have a gift link for the NYT article on #ClimateChange and #BookPreservation? I would be very grateful for a share!