Rumors continue to fly that bankrupt AMS is shopping Publishers Group West, which could be a boon to both its staff and client publishers, even though the latter could still lose out on most or all of their income for the end of 2006.

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Some PGW client publishers who are considering forming their own credit group to look out for their interests in the AMS bankruptcy case had some of the worst fears confirmed on Friday after legal consultations:

• Their books in PGW's possession are considered on consignment and are the property of PGW. Reclamation rights are limited.
• In the same vein, it will be very difficult for publishers to get out of the contracts with PGW.
• PGW publishers may request that the U.S. Trustee form a PGW creditors' committee separate from AMS's creditors' committee. If that request fails, the group could file to form its own separate creditors' committee.

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The bankruptcy has led to some gallows humor. Consider the first of several entries on a new blog called www.RadioFreePGW.com:

"Following the hostile seizure of their hard-earned dollars by AMS management on December 29, PGW publishers were relieved to learn on Wednesday that their hijacked operating funds were being put to good use. After all, how else could AMS executives afford to fly all of their O'Melveny & Myers attorneys to Delaware from Southern California without the generous contributions of PGW publishers? As PGW publishers have learned this week, bankruptcy attorneys don't come cheap."