The Macmillan controversy over its decision to implement an 8-week embargo on multiple copies of new ebook sales to libraries has generated no shortage of op-eds and other posts. The following is a roundup of NewsBreaks’ coverage from the past several months.The latest news is that as of Jan. 29, 2020, Macmillan has been banned from the Digital Book World 2020 conference. Lead organizer Bradley Metrock states, “It is our absolute privilege to ban all Macmillan employees from attending or speaking at Digital Book World until the company’s library embargo is lifted and they fully comply with the requests of the American Library Association. This ban goes into effect immediately for all of Macmillan’s many imprints and subsidiaries. … [W]e yearn for a time when we hear of major publishers doing nothing with libraries other than graciously partnering with them and showing heartfelt gratitude for cultivating their revenue stream known as lifelong readers.”
From Jan. 28, 2020: NewsBreaks editor Brandi Scardilli shared her experience at Macmillan CEO John Sargent’s attempt to connect with librarians in “Macmillan CEO Talks to Librarians at ALA Midwinter.”
On Jan. 21, 2020, Alan Inouye, ALA’s senior director of public policy and government relations, posted an op-ed on NewsBreaks: “Embargoing Libraries: A Losing Proposition for All.”
Also from Jan. 21: “ReadersFirst Shares a Financial Impact Analysis of the Macmillan Boycott”
From Dec. 10, 2019: NewsBreaks writer Corilee Christou summed up ALA’s 2019 activities and shared its 2020 plans, which include continuing “to lobby government officials, community members, authors, and other interested parties to reinforce the unfair aspect of Macmillan’s decision,” in “ALA News Roundup and a Look Ahead to 2020.”
From Nov. 19, 2019: After ALA made its case to Congress that “the ebook publishing industry has been engaging in anticompetitive behavior at the expense of libraries and library patrons,” NewsBreaks writer George Pike issued “ALA's Report to Congress on Libraries and the Ebook Industry: A Primer.”
From Nov. 5, 2019: “ALA Update on Macmillan’s New Ebook Policy”
The Digital Reader blog has been following the news: “The Digital Reader Weighs In on Macmillan Controversy” (Nov. 5, 2019) and “The Digital Reader Chimes In on Macmillan Controversy” (Sept. 24).
From Aug. 27, 2019: NewsBreaks writer Terry Ballard reported on a Book Buzz session where librarians confronted John Sargent in “Publishers Are on a Collision Course With Libraries.”
Also from Aug. 27: “ALA Encourages Opposition to Macmillan’s Ebook-Purchasing Policy”
From Aug. 6, 2019: Librarian Jessamyn West published an op-ed with CNN titled “Libraries Are Fighting to Preserve Your Right to Borrow E-Books.”
From July 16, 2019: Alan Inouye summed up the existing library ebook sales policies from the Big Five Publishers, covered in “ALA Confronts Ebook Policy Changes.”
