Manuscript Theft Resurfaces: Filippo Bernardini Case Echoes in New Publishing Scam Wave
The recent theft of manuscripts has brought attention back to Filippo Bernardini, who was arrested in New York in 2022 and later convicted in 2023 for defrauding Penguin Random House, leading to a restitution order of $88,000. According to The New York Times, authors have discovered their unpublished works being circulated illegally. In August, Catherine Lacey received an email featuring an excerpt from her novel Gemma, which is not set for release until 2028, attributed to the 'spine collector.' Bernardini had registered around 160 fraudulent domains that imitated legitimate publishers. Vincenzo Latronico also found an excerpt of Una splendida rovina online prior to its release. Following the Times article, Literary Scout took down negative reviews of unreleased books. Bernardini interned at Andrew Nurnberg Associates in 2016 and was employed at Simon & Schuster's London office.
Fatti principali
- Filippo Bernardini was arrested in New York in 2022 and convicted in 2023, ordered to pay $88,000 to Penguin Random House
- The New York Times interviewed more than a dozen authors, agents, and literary scouts about recent manuscript thefts
- Catherine Lacey received an excerpt of her novel Gemma, due no earlier than 2028, with 48 middle-finger emojis in August
- Bernardini acquired about 160 deceptive domains, including penguinrandornhouse.com
- Vincenzo Latronico's Una splendida rovina was reviewed on Literary Scout three months before publication
- Literary Scout posted a review of Gemma on July 24, the same day Lacey sent her manuscript to an impersonator
- The blog later displayed a Palestinian flag and a personal attack on journalist Reeves Wiedeman
- Bernardini had interned at Andrew Nurnberg Associates in London in 2016 and worked at Simon & Schuster's London office in 2022
Entità
Artisti
- Filippo Bernardini
- Catherine Lacey
- Jin Auh
- Vincenzo Latronico
- Nick Hornby
- Rebecca Yarros
- Reeves Wiedeman
- Lila Shapiro
Istituzioni
- Penguin Random House
- The New York Times
- Vulture
- Literary Scout
- Andrew Nurnberg Associates
- Simon & Schuster
Luoghi
- New York
- United States
- London
- United Kingdom
- Gaza
- Italy