Popular books to be released online

An online publisher once sued by Random House Inc. for copyright infringement will be issuing electronic versions of books by Margaret Atwood, John Updike and other popular Random House writers.

RosettaBooks, which in 2001 angered Random House by putting out digital versions of William Styron’s “Sophie’s Choice” and other titles without the publisher’s consent, announced Wednesday it had agreed with Random House on the release of 51 e-books.

In releasing “Sophie’s Choice” and other older Random House works, Rosetta had claimed that e-rights were subject only to the author’s permission, noting that the contracts made no specific reference to the digital format.

Random House argued that the publisher’s rights to e-books were implicit. The lawsuit divided the industry, with publishers supporting Random House and the Authors Guild backing Rosetta.

Under an out-of-court settlement reached last December, Rosetta was allowed to keep publishing “Sophie’s Choice” and the other books and collaborate with Random House on additional releases. The key issue -- who controls e-rights when the contract doesn’t specify -- was left unresolved.