German Buch News: Suhrkamp Shares Sold; Logistep Fights Piracy

In German Buch News by Siobhan O'Leary

By Siobhan O’Leary

Logistep AG

CFO of anti-piracy firm Logistep, Richard M. Schneider, discusses the battle to defeat illegal file sharing using his company’s sophisticated anti-piracy software. In an interview with BuchMarkt, he reveals that Logistep’s own software can identify offenses in real time, including the name and size of the protected work. The company’s next move is to contact the Internet service provider, who can match the IP addresses to users and bring the illegal file sharing activities to the attention of legal authorities.

The Börsenblatt reports that Joachim Unseld has sold his 20% share of Suhrkamp Verlag to the other two shareholders—the family foundation headed by publisher Ulla Unseld-Berkéwicz and the Medienholdung AG Winterthur. The decision follows months of conflict regarding the publisher’s move to Berlin and the sale of Suhrkamp’s archive to the Deutsche Literaturarchiv in Marbach. Following the sale of Unseld’s share, the family foundation now has a 61% stake in the company.

About the Author

Siobhan O'Leary

Siobhan O’Leary is a literary agent, translator and writer based in Berlin. She previously worked in the Foreign Rights department of the Crown Publishing Group (Random House) and at the publishing consulting firm Market Partners International.