Another mag customer wants to bail from Quebecor World

The Economist magazine has applied to the courts to be allowed to give Quebecor World formal notice at the end of the month that it wants to terminate its printing contract with the troubled company, a division of Quebecor Inc.

According to a story in the Globe and Mail, the prestigious customer filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York. Because Quebecor World is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, there is a standstill on changes to any contracts. The company wants that stay lifted to allow notice to be given.

“The Economist is being harmed by the continuance of the automatic stay since the stay is all that prevents The Economist from exercising its undisputable contractual right to terminate the printing agreement by timely serving a written notice to terminate,” says the filing.

The Economist's move follows on the decision last month by Rogers Publishing to move printing of all of its consumer and trade magazines to Transcontinental Media at the end of next year.