Major Publishers and the Authors Guild File Renewed Challenge Against the State of Iowa, for Book Removal Provision in Senate File 496

This complaint follows a federal court of appeals ruling that the First Amendment applies in school libraries 

(New York, September 26, 2024)— Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, and Simon & Schuster, alongside The Authors Guild, filed a renewed challenge today to the book removal provision in Iowa Senate File 496. This is one of two lawsuits that the coalition has brought challenging school library book removal mandates. On August 29, the group, along with Sourcebooks, filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida challenging the unconstitutional book removal provision in Florida House Bill 1069. 

Also joining in this challenge are the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) and four renowned authors whose books have been removed in Iowa school and classroom libraries—Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak and Shout), John Green (Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars), Malinda Lo (Last Night at the Telegraph Club and A Scatter of Light), and Jodi Picoult (Nineteen Minutes). Additionally, this complaint includes new plaintiffs: two educators and a high school student. 

While the State of Iowa initially defended the ban by arguing that the First Amendment does not apply to school libraries, this argument—known as the “government speech doctrine”—was squarely rejected by the 8th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals prior to this filing. 

When SF 496 was first enacted in May 2023, school districts interpreted it to prohibit books that relate in any way to gender identity or sexual orientation from school and classroom libraries for students through sixth grade. As a result of the lawsuit, the state has acknowledged that SF 496 does not require such restrictions. Accordingly, the lawsuit now focuses exclusively on the prohibition against any books containing sexual content, regardless of the value of the book or the age of a student. 

Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks and the Authors Guild issued a joint statement: “We must continue to stand together— alongside educators, librarians, students, authors, and readers—to protect the freedom to read and fight against the unconstitutional censorship measures being imposed by the state of Iowa. We will do everything we can to strike down SF 496’s remaining book ban provision and defend the fundamental rights of Iowans to read, think, and learn freely.” 

Contacts: 
Claire von Schilling, EVP & Director Corporate Communications & Social Responsibility 
Penguin Random House | [email protected] 

Dominique Cimina, SVP Publicity, Corporate Communications, & Author Brand Strategy 
Random House Children’s Books | 212-782-9314; [email protected] 

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Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade book publisher, is dedicated to its mission to ignite a universal passion for reading by creating books for everyone. The company, which employs more than 10,000 people globally, is owned by Bertelsmann. With more than 300 imprints and brands on six continents, Penguin Random House comprises adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction print and digital English, German, and Spanish-language trade book publishing businesses in more than 20 countries worldwide. With over 16,000 new titles and more than 700 million print, audio, and eBooks sold annually, Penguin Random House’s publishing lists include more than 80 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely read authors. 

Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a leading U.S. general-interest book publisher made up of dozens of esteemed imprints within the publishing groups Basic Books Group, Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Audio, Hachette Books, Hachette Nashville, Little, Brown and Company, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Orbit, Running Press Group, and Workman Publishing. HBG provides custom distribution, fulfillment, and sales services to other publishing companies. HBG books and authors have received the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Booker Prize, Nobel Peace Prize, and other major honors. HBG is committed to diversity in its company and publishing programs, and to fostering a culture of inclusion for employees and authors. HBG is proud to be part of Hachette Livre, the world’s third-largest trade and educational publisher. 

HarperCollins Publishers is the second largest consumer book publisher in the world, with operations in fifteen countries. With more than two hundred years of history and 120+ branded imprints around the world, HarperCollins publishes approximately 10,000 new books every year in sixteen languages and has a print and digital catalog of more than 200,000 titles. Writing across dozens of genres, HarperCollins authors include winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, and the Man Booker Prize. HarperCollins, headquartered in New York, is a subsidiary of News Corp and can be visited online at corporate.harpercollins.com. 

Macmillan Publishers is the U.S. trade division of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, a large family-owned media company headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its publishing companies include prominent imprints around the world that publish a broad range of award-winning books for children and adults in all categories and formats. U.S. publishers include Celadon Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Flatiron Books, Henry Holt & Company, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, The St. Martin’s Publishing Group, and Tor Publishing Group. In the UK, Australia, India, and South Africa, Macmillan publishes under the Pan Macmillan name. The German company, Holtzbrinck Deutsche Buchverlage, includes among its imprints S. Fischer, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Rowohlt, and Droemer Knaur. 

Simon & Schuster, a global leader in general interest publishing, is dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, and in all printed, digital and audio formats. Its distinguished roster of authors includes many of the world’s most popular and widely recognized writers, and winners of the most prestigious literary honors and awards. It is home to numerous well-known imprints and divisions such as Simon & Schuster, Scribner, Atria Books, Gallery Books, Adams Media, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and Simon & Schuster Audio and international companies in Australia, Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and VBK in the Netherlands and Belgium. It proudly brings the works of its authors to readers in more than 200 countries and territories. 

The Authors Guild 
With 15,000 members, the Authors Guild is the nation’s oldest and largest professional organization for published writers. It advocates on behalf of working writers to protect authors’ free speech rights and their copyrights; it fights for fair contracts and authors’ ability to earn a livable wage; and it provides a welcoming community for writers and translators of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and journalism. Through its educational and charitable arm, the Authors Guild Foundation, it also offers free programming for working writers on the business of writing and organizes public events that highlight the importance of a rich, diverse American literary culture and the authors who contribute to it. 

ArentFox Schiff LLP 
With more than 600 lawyers and policy professionals, ArentFox Schiff LLP represents corporations, governments, private individuals, and trade associations. ArentFox Schiff has offices in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, and the firm provides strategic legal counsel to clients that range from Fortune 500 corporations and start-ups, to trade associations and foreign governments. As one of the most diverse general practice law firms in the country, ArentFox Schiff has roots in government service, a focus on legal excellence, and a commitment to the administration of justice. ArentFox Schiff has earned the distinction of being considered a premier law firm from The American Lawyer, Chambers USA, and Legal 500.