Book withdrawn over false claims about HK music entrepreneur

Publishers Penguin Books has withdrawn a book by a British music critic, apologised and paid damages to Hong Kong music entrepreneur Klaus Heymann over false statements made about him and his company, Naxos Records.

The book, Maestros, Masterpieces and Madness: The Secret Life and Shameful Death of the Classical Record Industry by Norman Lebrecht, was published this year.

Five pages dealing with Mr Heymann and his company led to the book being pulled from shelves in Britain on Thursday by Penguin Books, publisher of the British edition. Bookstores in Hong Kong said they did not stock it.

Mr Heymann sued Penguin in the High Court of Justice in London, saying the book contained four points he deemed defamatory, including statements on his treatment of artists under the budget classical Naxos label and claims of financial impropriety.

He said there were numerous other statements which were wrong but not necessarily defamatory.

Penguin said, following a court hearing on Thursday, that it apologised for the 'hurt and damage which [Mr Heymann] has suffered', and agreed to pay an undisclosed sum for legal fees and to a charity.