Google has come to a settlement with French publisher Hachette Livre in regard to the scanning and use of scanned French books for its Google Books project. The deal apparently gives Hachette considerable control over what titles are scanned and used. Hachette will also get to use Google’s scans of its books for print-on-demand and e-book sales. The Bookseller’s FutureBooks reports on the settlement and posts the press release. The Bookseller itself has more backstory, noting that Hachette had filed an objection to the Google Books settlement with the US court in September. Google says that it does not...

ActuaLitté is reporting that new French legislation will allow publishers to fix the price of ebooks. This will bring ebooks into line with the Lang law that prevents the discounting of books more than 5% below the sales price. The really nutty thing, however, is the provision of the law that prevents libraries from offering ebooks at the same moment that the paper book is released. Clearly this is all aimed at Google and Amazon. Here is a Google translation of part of the article about an interview with Herve Gaymard: In the interview published in The Tribune yesterday,...

There's a new reader in the App Store (at least in the US version of the store I checked here). On October 15, ePagine went up and is now the third reader to support Adobe DRM, along with Bluefire and txtr. The app store description doesn't say much, just "ePagine's ebook reader allowed access to a catalog of more than 100,000 titels, protected or not by the Adobe ADEPT DRM System [stet]". The support link takes you to the French ePagine site, which can be found here....

Things are heating up in France. We've already seen the publishers lambast the Wylie Agency and say that digital rights sould not be put in the hands of "outside parties", including agents - who were "liable to endanger the equilibrium within the profession". Now The Bookseller is reporting that writers are lambasting the publishers, claiming that their statement is "gobbledygook". The Permanent Writers Council (Conseil Permanent des Ecrivains, CPE) said that authors also had rights under French intellectual property law, including earning a percentage of the earnings from their work. The CPE is the umbrella organisation for writers from...

This is a Google translation of the ActuaLitte article. The original French article is here. Blockquotes omitted: Exclusive: The information is still unofficial, since the introduction of this service will only be on October 21 next, when Focus on the Digital organized by the NIS. It will speak digital, for sure, but in the meantime, several elements have filtered ... Today, the functioning of the Amazon Kindle is simple: a camera linked to an ebookstore. Simple, but pretty damn restrictive, since between others, the ebook reader from Amazon will only play files in Amazon. EPub not so. However, this system...

Earlier we reported that French publishers decried Wylie's publishing venture. Now it looks as if their protest has been effective. The Bookseller is reporting: ... Wylie has moved to re­assure the French trade that he will no longer be withholding digi­tal rights. He said: "Physical and digital rights will be together [in France], which is what we always wanted." Flammarion chief executive Teresa Cremisi said: "Everything will be resolved. It was like a summer fever—amazing. But he has now abandoned his project and that is a good thing." Another publisher, who declined to be named, said Wylie had "capitulated". "He had been refusing to...

From the press release: Digital book service provider Mobcast Services Ltd. have announced an eBook distribution agreement with Orange France to offer customers eBooks to download & read directly on Android™ devices and JAVA compatible handsets. The launch follows the stratospheric growth of both eBooks and Android™ wireless devices in the French telecom market. EBook titles available include a selection of free books, titles priced up to €5.99, plus the entire collection of Horoscope 2010 guides as well as best-selling French classics like Le tour du monde en 80 jours by Jules Verne. These are accessible from the ‘Applications’ category on the...

That's according to The Bookseller, which says that Editions Eyrolles is releasing Photoshop Elements, Spécial Débutants [for beginners] by Cyril Bruneau and Bernard Richebé, includes 45 minutes of educational videos and was conceived as a tutorial composed of practical files, the company said. The aim is to "give a real added value to professional works, where a savoir-faire in a given field needs to be demonstrated and explained," the publisher said. The book will be sold through the French iBookstore. Eyrolles will be publishing another enhanced ebook at the end of the year which will include flashcards. They...

From ActuaLitté. Here is a Google Translation: Exclusive, live from San Francisco: Live from the IDF, which is currently taking place in San Francisco, we learn the latest news from the world of high technology and high ... And most importantly, the Nook, ebook reader Barnes & Noble. Since January, we know that the foundry [NdR: creator microprocessor] Intel, AMD great hereditary enemy, talking about a tool very similar to the AppStore, it is the Appup. It was officially launched today. Flat, my forms? This is a platform dedicated entirely to all devices with a processor based on Intel Atom. Thus, netbooks, tablet...