Random House and RosettaBooks settle

Random House and RosettaBooks settle
NEW YORK (AP) -- Random House Inc. has settled a lawsuit against an e-book publisher that was selling digital versions of Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" and seven other popular titles, including William Styron's "Sophie's Choice."
RosettaBooks will continue publishing the disputed works and will collaborate with Random House on additional books.
"We are very glad to be able to put our differences behind us and to now work collaboratively rather than combatively to enhance RosettaBooks' and our commitment to electronic publishing," Katherine J. Trager, senior vice president and general counsel for Random House, Inc., said in a statement.
"It's a victory for all authors," said Arthur Klebanoff, CEO of RosettaBooks, which has argued that authors, not publishers, control e-rights to books when the author's contract has no specific language about the electronic format.
The works in question predate the rise of the Internet.
With rights to countless old titles at stake, the publishing industry had closely followed the case. Simon & amp; Schuster and Penguin Putnam were among those backing Random House, while the Authors Guild and the Association of Authors' Representatives supported RosettaBooks.
But the settlement announced Dec. 4 leaves the issue unresolved. The two sides essentially agreed it was better to work together than to fight.
Jewish group honors 'Sophie's Choice' author
NEW YORK (AP) -- For more than 20 years, William Styron's "Sophie's Choice" has been praised as a novelist's worthy dramatization of human cruelty and criticized as a gentile's limited view of the Holocaust.
Now, the 77-year-old Styron is receiving a prize he hopes will justify the novel to all readers. On Dec. 3, the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation gave the author its third annual Witness to Justice Award.
Published in 1979, "Sophie's Choice" won the National Book Award and later was adapted into a movie, with Meryl Streep winning an Academy Award for her performance as "Sophie."
The Auschwitz foundation was founded in 1995 by businessman Fred Schwartz "to support the creation of a Jewish cultural and educational center in Oswiecim [the Polish name for Auschwitz], Poland."
Previous winners include former U.S. envoy Stuart Eizenstat, for his help obtaining compensation for Holocaust survivors, and HBO for the film "Conspiracy," about the Nazis' decision to exterminate the Jews.
hFormer area educatorillustrates book
LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Flo Hosa Dougherty, former Boardman High School teacher, is illustrator for the children's book "The Man Who Set the Town Dancing."
Dougherty, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, lived in Struthers for 17 years and Boardman for 52 years. She taught in the Youngstown School system at West and Volney Rogers junior highs and in Boardman schools for 26 years.
The book, written in English and Spanish by Candice Stanford of Tacoma, Wash., celebrates the life and work of Jose Tena, master teacher and community activist. It was published by Clear Light publishers of Santa Fe, N.M.
Signed copies may be obtained by emailing Dougherty at bluegateflodoc@aol.com or calling (505) 523-2950. Cost is $16.95 (hardcover) plus $3 for postage and handling.