June 29, 2025

Business, Decisions

This week, we talked to indie publishers who feel they’ve been given the short shrift by James Daunt’s revitalized Barnes & Noble. The Supreme Court ruled that public schools must allow parents to opt their children out of being taught books with LGBTQ+ themes—a decision that many fear could have a chilling effect on children’s publishing. Across the country, two other courts decided—in separate cases involving tech companies Meta and Anthropic—that the scraping of copyrighted books to train AI models counts as fair use. Plus, the ALA named its new executive director just in time for its annual convention, and much more.

On June 25, the Douglas County Library in Castle Rock, Colo., hosted a romantasy panel featuring Red Tower Books authors (from l.) Mai Corland, K.A. Linde, Jade Presley, and Abigail Owen. The event drew nearly 300 attendees and books were sold by local bookseller Books Are Awesome. (Photo: DCL/Hutch Tibbetts, courtesy Kaye Publicity)

Independent Publishers Are Fed Up with Barnes & Noble’s Buying Practices

While presses of all stripes are glad that James Daunt has put the largest bricks-and-mortar bookstore chain in the U.S. back on its financial feet, many indies feel deliberately left out of the retailer’s revival. The reduction in frontlist and national buyers has limited independent presses’ ability to pitch books to the company, causing their sales through the outlet to plummet. more

SCOTUS Mandates Opt-Outs on LGBTQ+ Books in Schools, Funding for E-Rate Program

Wrapping up a hurly-burly session, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday announced two decisions that will allow all parents to opt their children out of being taught books with LGBTQ+ themes in schools and ensure funding for universal broadband access for schools, libraries, and under-resourced areas. more

Federal Judge Rules AI Training Is Fair Use in Anthropic Copyright Case

A federal judge in California has issued a complicated ruling in one of the first major copyright cases involving AI training, finding that while using books to train AI models constitutes fair use, downloading pirated books was a violation of copyright law. more

Meta Wins AI Copyright Case, But Judge Writes Roadmap for Authors’ Revenge

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria granted summary judgment to Meta in a copyright case brought by 13 authors, saying they offered virtually no proof of how they were harmed by Meta's use of their work, while outlining several ways they might succeed in the future. more

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