Amazon.com and 'Big Five' publishers accused of ebook price-fixing

Class action lawsuit filed in US claims the houses have colluded with the online giant to keep prices artificially highAmazon.com and the “Big Five” publishers – Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster – have been accused of colluding to fix ebook prices, in a class action filed by the law firm that successfully sued Apple and the Big Five on the same charge 10 years ago.The lawsuit, filed in district court in New York on Thursday by Seattle firm Hagens Berman, on behalf of consumers in several US states, names the retail giant as the sole defendant but labels the publishers “co-conspirators”. It alleges Amazon and the publishers use a clause known as “Most Favored Nations” (MFN) to keep ebook prices artificially high, by agreeing to price restraints that force consumers to pay more for ebooks purchased on retail platforms that are not Amazon.com. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-01-15 13:04:33 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kirshbaum move could reduce competition—BEA

Written By: Gayle Feldman Publication Date: Tue, 24/05/2011 - 09:41 Responses to Amazon.com's hire of Laurence Kirshbaum as publisher have varied from worried to fear of a "dampening" effect on competition among delegates at the BEA conference. Word that started to spread Sunday night was... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Fight to Control Consumer Data They Barely Use

The sticking point in publishers’ negotiations with Apple to sell magazines on the iPad was over who would control the customer data. Publishers said they needed it to renew and cross-sell buyers of their digital content. Apple didn’t want to give it up. But the big irony in all this back and... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers "celebrating" after Waterstone's takeover

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 23/05/2011 - 09:40 The takeover of Waterstone's by Alexander Mamut is cause for celebration among the publishing industry, Faber c.e.o. Stephen Page has said. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-Book Sales Pass Print on Amazon

While the Rapture isn’t scheduled to occur until Saturday, according to members of certain religious fringe groups, it looks like doomsday has come early for publishers of print books. Amazon announced Thursday that sales of ebooks on the site have finally surpassed combined sales of hardcovers... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers begin "buddying" schemes

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 20/05/2011 - 08:34 Random House and Bloomsbury have begun "buddying" programmes to support their local libraries and library authorities. More than 20 Random House staff have volunteered to be part of a pilot scheme pioneered by deputy group... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle E-books Top Print Books Sales on Amazon

It happened. Amazon says ebook sales have surpassed physical book sales on Amazon.com. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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QOTD: About Those Amazon E-Book Sales…

“As a former Amazon Associate, I can tell you that a great many sales of Kindle Books are for the 99¢ complete Dickens, etc.” –Movie critic and Web publisher Roger Ebert, providing some context for Amazon’s stat about Kindle ebooks outselling print books. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-Books Outsell Print Books at Amazon

Amazon.com said that it sold 105 ebooks for every 100 printed books, a milestone that its chief executive, Jeff Bezos, said had occurred sooner than expected. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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French poll says publishers less reliable than a decade ago

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Thu, 19/05/2011 - 09:58 Fewer French booksellers think publishers are "serious and reliable" than they did 10 years ago, a survey has revealed. Among 430 representative outlets surveyed in a poll taken for French trade weekly Livres Hebdo between... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Marketshare of ebook sales drops back after post-Christmas high

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 19/05/2011 - 10:00 The percentage of ebook purchases has dropped back from the high of the post-Christmas period, falling to 2.5% of all book purchases in volume over the four-week period to 20th March. In a presentation at the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to accept ePub files

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Thu, 19/05/2011 - 09:59 Amazon has told US publishers that it will begin accepting digital files in the ePub format in the near future and will also allow users of its Kindle device to read ePub files. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Post-Christmas ebook sales drop 2.5%

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 19/05/2011 - 09:15 The percentage of ebook purchases has dropped back from the high of the post-Christmas period, falling to 2.5% of all book purchases in volume over the four-week period to 20th March. In a presentation at the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon.com launches second publishing imprint

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 18/05/2011 - 14:47 Amazon.com has announced the launch of its second publishing imprint this month, with Thomas & Mercer to focus on mysteries and thrillers. The imprint is named after the streets that flank Amazon's Seattle headquarters and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Corvus acquires seven from self-published author

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 17/05/2011 - 08:15 Corvus has acquired seven books from self-published author Nick Alexander, whose title The Missing Boyfriend was in the top 10 in the Kindle paid-for charts for six weeks. Senior editor Laura Palmer bought world English... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Upcoming Yale Publishing Course Features Speakers from Hearst, Dwell, Glamour

For the second year, Yale University will offer a publishing course aimed at long-time magazine industry professionals, slated to begin on with a keynote address from Richard Stolley, senior editorial adviser at Time Inc., on Sunday, July 10. The course will run through Friday, July 15. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Report: 40 Percent of App Users Opt To Share Data With Publishers

Apple's attempts at limiting publisher requests for consumer data and the conversion of first-time downloads into regular users have been two of the larger stumbling blocks for magazine publishers building a business around apps. A new report from digital publishing vendor Yudu Media suggests... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bodley Head latest to publish Bin Laden title

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 16/05/2011 - 09:06 The Bodley Head has acquired a title looking at the operation that searched for, and finally killed, Osama bin Laden, by al-Qaeda expert Peter Bergen. Publishing director Will Sulkin acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus publisher of the year at The Bookseller Industry Awards

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 17/05/2011 - 09:00 Quercus has been crowned 2011's best publisher at The Bookseller Industry Awards, as Sainsbury's scooped the Bookseller of the Year award. Quercus was presented with the Bonnier Publisher of the Year Award at the black-tie... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers battle for Townshend and Walliams books

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 08:30 The Who guitarist Pete Townshend and "Little Britain" star David Walliams are the latest figures to have memoirs put in front of publishers, as the trade shows no sign of losing its appetite for celebrity autobiographies. Ed... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children indies' concern over cover prices

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 15:40 Publishers are remaining tight-lipped about recent price increases in books for children and teenagers. Price increases have seen some young adult titles being priced at £18, with some paperback fiction given an £8.99 price... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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