From: Jim O'Donnell <[log in to unmask]> Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2013 15:33:40 -0500 Chronicle of Higher Education - 3/4/13 http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/edwin-mellen-press-drops-lawsuit-against-university-librarian/42647 Edwin Mellen Press Drops Lawsuit Against University Librarian March 4, 2013, 3:03 pm By Jake New Edwin Mellen Press said on Monday that it would drop a lawsuit against a university librarian whom it had sued for writing a blog post critical of the publisher. Critics have called the lawsuit an attack on academic freedom. The press had sued Dale Askey, a librarian at McMaster University, in Ontario, and the Canadian university in the Ontario Superior Court, seeking more than $3-million in damages for the post, in which Mr. Askey referred to the publisher as “dubious” and said its books were often works of “second-class scholarship.” In a separate action, the press’s founder, Herbert W. Richardson, sued Mr. Askey for $1-million for personal remarks made in the blog’s comment section. It is not clear whether that lawsuit will also be dropped...... “The financial pressure of the social-media campaign and pressure on authors is severe,” Edwin Mellen Press said in a news release issued on Monday. “EMP is a small company. Therefore must choose to focus its resources on its business and serving its authors.” [SNIP]