Todd Leopold

U.S. District Court Judge Florence Y. Pan’s decision blocking the $2.2 billion merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has apparently quashed the deal. Initially, PRH and its owner, Bertelsmann, said it planned to appeal. However, on November 21, Reuters reported that Paramount would let the deal expire without participating in an appeal, collecting a $200 million breakup fee from Bertelsmann. In a statement released late that day, PRH acknowledged that Paramount had backed away and said it was dropping the appeal.

According to guidance from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released on August 28, all federally funded research should be made available to the public for free access and use upon publication. Some large scholarly journal publishers are on board with the suggestions, which have been in the works for more than a decade. But other sources said that the new policy shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all.

The proposed merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has attracted the attention of the Justice Department, which is concerned that the $2.2 billion deal will shrink opportunities for writers, and hurt consumers, by turning the Big Five publishers (once the Big Six, until Penguin and Random House completed their merger in 2013) into the Big Four. Its antitrust trial against the merger began in early August and ended Friday. A decision is expected in the fall.