Letters and Briefs

Authors Guild Signatory Letters

2023

3/8/23 – Letter to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Re: Removal of Library Books Without Following District Policy

2/24/23 – Letter to Broward County Public Schools Re: Removal of Sex Ed Book Before Formal Review

2/15/23 – Letter to Madison County Public Schools Re: Removal of More than 20 Books from School Libraries

2/9/23 – Letter to Pinellas County Schools Re: Removal of The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

2/1/23 – Letter to McKinney Independent School District Re: Revised Sexual Content Policy

1/24/23 – Letter to Hernando School District Re: Removal of Thirteen Books by Ellen Hopkins from School Libraries

2022

11/28/22 – Letter to Natrona County School District Re: Proposed District Library Policy

11/28/22 – Letter to Aiken County Public Schools Re: Removal of The Hate U Give

11/3/22 – Letter to Beaufort County School District Re: Removal of Ninety Books from School Libraries

10/28/22 – Letter to Texarkana Independent School District Re: Removal of Books from District Libraries

10/26/22 – Letter to the White House Re: Journalism Competition and Preservation Act

10/24/22 – Letter to Conway Public Schools Re: Removal of Beyond Magenta and Felix Ever After

10/14/22 – Letter to the School District of Pickens County Re: Removal of Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You

10/13/22 – Letter to the School District of Escambia County, Florida Re: Removal of More than 100 Library Books

10/6/22 – Letter to the U.K. Minister of Markets and Enterprise on the artificial intelligence exemption

9/22/22 – Letter to Spotsylvania County Public Schools Re: Removal of Four Library Books

9/16/22 – Letter to Frisco Independent School District Re: Removal of Library Books

9/8/22 – Letter to Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District Re: Policy Changes Allowing Removal of Library Books

9/2/22 – Letter to Norman Public Schools Re: Admonishing Teacher for Sharing Digital Library Resources

8/25/22 – Letter to Madison County Schools Re: Restricted Access to Ten Books

8/24/22 – Letter to Pinellas County Schools Re: Recommended Removal of Books

8/22/22 – Letter to Collier County Public Schools Re: Addition of Advisory Notices to Library Books

8/19/22 – Letter to Conroe Independent School District Re: Challenged Book Policy Changes

8/18/22 – Letter to Keller Independent School District Re: Removal of Challenged Books

8/8/22 – Letter to Auburn Enlarged City School District Re: Proposed Policy Updates

7/21/22 – Letter to Central Bucks School District Re: Amending Library Materials Policy

7/11/22 – Letter to Fairview School District Re: Removal of Gender Queer

5/23/22 – Letter to Nampa School District Re: Amending Book Challenge Procedures

4/1/22 – Memorandum in Support of Freelance Isn’t Free Act S8369 (Gounardes)/A9368 (Bronson)

2/1/22 – Letter to the Senate Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights

2/1/22 – Letter to McMinn County School District Re: Removal of Maus

1/19/22 – Open Letter: New York Literary Organizations Support ‘Rap Music on Trial’ Legislation

1/7/22 – Letter to Llano County Commissioners Re: Removal of It’s Perfectly Normal and In the Night Kitchen

1/7/22 – Letter to Wayzata School Board Re: Removal of Lawn Boy

2021

12/8/21 – NCAC Leads Coalition Statement on the Attack on Books in Schools

11/17/21 – Letter to Orange County Public Schools Re: Book Challenge Procedures / Gender Queer

11/17/21 – Letter to Brevard County Public Schools Re: Book Challenge Procedures / Gender Queer

11/9/21 – Letter to Wissahickon School District Re: Book Challenge Procedures / Gender Queer

11/8/21 – Letter to North Kansas City Schools Re: Challenge to Fun Home and All Boys Aren’t Blue

11/8/21 – Letter to Canyons School District Re: Book Challenges

10/22/21 – Letter to North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District Re: Challenge to Library Books

10/20/21 – Letter to Virginia Beach City Public Schools Re: Challenge to Library Books

10/14/21 – Letter to Hudson City School Districts Re:Removal of Lawn Boy

10/14/21 – Letter to Katy Independent School District Re: Challenge to Jerry Craft books

10/14/21 – Letter to Cass County Public Library Board of Trustees Re: Attempts to remove It’s Perfectly Normal

10/14/21 – Letter to Fairfax County Public Schools Re: Book Challenge Procedures

9/28/21 – Letter to Lake Travis Independent School District re a challenge to Out of Darkness

9/28/21 – Re: Central York School District’s diversity resources list

7/29/21 – Cancellation of Forget the Alamo event at the Bullock Texas State History Museum

6/22/21 – Non-Partisan Coalition Statement Opposing “Divisive Concepts” Legislation

6/16/21 – Joint Statement on Legislative Efforts to Restrict Education about Racism and American History

5/14/21 – The Guild Urges NYC to Enhance Public Library Budgets

4/31/21 – Proposed Georgia State Law Violates Authors’ Rights

4/29/21 – The Guild’s Legislative Proposals for Collective Bargaining

4/29/21 – #DisneyMustPay Uncovers Additional Unpaid Writers Owed Royalties by Disney

2/16/21 – The Urgent Need to Support Authors and the Literary Arts

1/29/21 – Authors Groups Raise Concerns Over PRH and S&S Merger in Letter to DOJ

2020

12/18/20 – Re: Removal of Slaughterhouse Five from the curriculum

11/02/20 – Re: Removal of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian from the curriculum

9/23/20 Re: Removal of ​Fun Home​ from curriculum

10/13/20 – AG Signs Letters to Presidential Campaigns, Emphasizing Copyright Protections

10/13/20 – Re: Removal of Ghost Boys from curriculum

10/1/20 – Letters Sent to Congress and White House to Address Mixed-Earner Gap

8/17/20 – Joint letter with AAP and ABA to Congressman Cicilline, Chair of the House Antitrust Subcommittee, expressing our concerns with Amazon’s monopoly and monopsony power 

7/17/20 – Joint statement to Congress asking it to fix the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program re: Mixed Income Earners.

7/17/20 – Letter in Support of Anti SLAPP & NYSBA Media Law Committee Memorandum Re A5991A & S52A

7/9/20 – Letter to Missouri Department of Corrections in support of prisoners’ right to write and publish a book.

6/5/20 – Letter to Senators McConnell & Schumer and Reps. Pelosi and McCarthy asking Congress to provide libraries with $2 billion dollars in COVID-19 financial relief.

6/01/20 – Authors Guild Affirms Support for Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Internet Archive Brought by Four Leading Book Publishers

5/26/20 – Joint letter with CBLDF criticizing the removal of a cartoon satirizing President Trump.

5/21/20 – Open letter to Internet Archive and Brewster Kahle demanding that the “National Emergency Library” be shut down.

5/14/20 – Joint open letter with NBCC regarding the need for book reviews.

5/14/20 – Copyright Alliance letter to Congress on value of copyright during COVID-19.

5/13/20 – Freelancer Union letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding stimulus eligibility for freelancers.

5/1/20 – Authors Guild Files a Friend of the Court Brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Steinbeck Case

4/29/20 – NCAC letter to Alaska school board regarding “potentially controversial” books.

4/22/20 – PEN open letter from literary arts organizations to New York City Council Members.

4/22/20 – NCAC letter regarding anti-LGBTQ book bans.

4/16/20 – NCAC letter supporting a right to protest during the pandemic.

4/14/20 – Letter to Congress regarding clarification of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance to apply to freelancers and independent contractors.

3/19/20 – ASAE template letters sent to Representative Malone and Senators Schumer & Gillibrand asking for relief for NFPs in coronavirus stimulus packages.

1/24/20 – NCAC statement condemning Missouri Library Censorship Bill.

1/17/20 – Letter to US Trade Representative regarding South African IP regime.

2019

10/21/19 – NCAC letter regarding Columbia County, GA schools excluding three novels.

3/7/19 – AAUP statement opposing President Trump’s executive order regarding campus free speech.

3/6/19 – Open Markets letter to Department of Justice Antitrust Division opposing the merger of largest two U.S. printers.

2/19/19 – NWU controlled digital lending FAQs.

2/19/19 – NCAC letter regarding the removal of Fun Home from Hunterdon County, NJ high schools.

2018

12/5/18 – SPLC letter regarding the censorship of an Arkansas high school newspaper.

11/28/18 – NCAC letter regarding the Florida Department of Corrections impounding prison paper The Militant.

10/19/18 – Letter to Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to protest its policy preventing friends, family, or charitable organizations from sending books directly to prisoners.

8/17/18 – NCAC joint statement regarding President Trump’s letter to Simon & Schuster.

8/8/18 – Letter to Group Nine Media in support of the Thrillist Union and their efforts to secure a fair employment contract for writers in digital media.

8/2/18 – Letter to the White House Press Secretary protesting the prevention of CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins from covering a Rose Garden event.

7/10/18 – Letter to South Carolina Fraternal Order of Police for pressuring the removal of The Hate U Give from high school summer reading list.

6/21/18 – NCAC letter regarding the removal of The Hate U Give from South Carolina high school reading list.

3/7/18 – IAF letter addressed to the Canadian Parliament expressing concern about the overexpansion of Canada’s fair dealing (i.e., fair use) exceptions for educational uses.

2/19/18 – NCAC letter regarding the removal of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from Duluth, MN curriculum.

2/19/18 – NCAC letter regarding the removal of Looking for Alaska from Clinton, NC school.

2/19/18 – NCAC letter regarding the removal of The Hate U Give from Springfield, MO classrooms.

2/6/18 – NCAC letter regarding a challenge to The Giver in McKinney, TX elementary school.

2017

11/30/17 – NCAC letter regarding the removal of A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl from Cody, WY high school.

Authors Guild Amicus Briefs

In re Court of Mist and Fury and In re Gender Queer

Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith

NetChoice v. Paxton Media Group

Markham Concepts, Inc. Et Al. v. Hasbro, Inc. Et Al.

The Authors Guild Files Amicus Brief in Starz v. MGM

Netchoice v. Moody Amicus

SAS Institute Inc. v. World Programming Limited

Authors Guild, Copyright Law Expert File Brief Clarifying the Copyright Act’s “Library and Archives” Exclusion

Porco v. Lifetime Entertainment Services

Estate of Steinbeck v. Kaffaga.

Austin v. Illinois.

Google v. Oracle.

Chronicle Books et al. v. Audible.

Prison Legal News v. Jones.

PEN America Center v. Trump.

Fourth Estate v. Wall-Street.com.

Authors Guild Copyright Office Comments

8/7/20 – AG, Creator Groups Respond to Copyright Office’s Proposed Rule Changes to Ease Notice of Termination Requirements

8/5/20 – Joint Comments to the US Copyright Office about Modernizing Recordation of Notices of Termination.

8/1/20 – Comments to the US Copyright Office about Rule Requiring Deposits of Electronic Books for the Library of Congress’ Collections.

3/19/20 – On the Copyright Office’s definition of “publication.”

2/19/19 – On “Group Registration of Short Literary Works.”

Authors Guild Statements

8/17/22 – Authors Guild Stands in Solidarity with Patmos Library and Its Staff and Board

2/1/22 – Testimony in Opposition to Rhode Island Ebook Licensing Bill

2/1/22 – Testimony in Opposition to Illinois Ebook Licensing Bill

6/18/21 – Authors Guild Statement on Antitrust Bills

5/06/21 – Authors Guild Statement on the New Federal Writers’ Project

4/29/21 – Authors Guild Statement on W.W. Norton’s Removing Blake Bailey’s Books from Circulation

3/08/21 – ACX/Audible’s Updates to the Sales Dashboard

3/30/21 – Tell McGraw-Hill to Stop Charging Freelancers for Processing Invoices

3/18/21 – The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act

1/22/21 – Statement on Audible and ACX Updated Terms

12/20/20 – Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

11/25/20 – AG Statement on Proposed Sale of Simon & Schuster and Its Ramifications for Authors

11/16/20 – Authors Guild Statement on AW&C Delayed Royalty Payments

7/22/20 – Authors Guild and AG Foundation Pass Anti-Racism Resolution

6/10/20 – Support of publishing workers’ day of solidarity against racial inequality.

6/4/20 – Opposition to President Trump’s executive order on Twitter.

6/2/20 – The Authors Guild Stands in Solidarity with Protestors

3/5/20 – The Trump Administration Must Stop Censoring Free Speech

11/8/19 – Condemnation of Trump administration efforts to pressure Hachette to identify the anonymous author of A Warning.

8/07/18 – Time’s Up: The Authors Guild condemns intimidation, discrimination, and harassment

Authors Guild Government Comments

12/13/22 – Comments to the U.S. Department of Labor on on Proposed Rule Governing Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act

1/17/20 – Joint comments to US Trade Representative on South Africa’s IP practices.

1/10/20 – Comments to USPTO on Artificial Intelligence.

7/29/19 – Comments to Department of Commerce on “Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods.”