Apple and four major ebook publishers have offered retailers such as Amazon.com the option to set their own prices for ebooks for the next two years in a bid to end an antitrust investigation in the European Union. The European Commission launched the investigation into allegations of cartel price-fixing by Harper Collins, Hachette Livre, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Macmillan and Apple last December. The publishers are accused of colluding with Apple to fix the price of ebooks, forcing up prices for consumers and attempting to squeeze rivals such as Amazon out of the market. The case hinges on so-called “agency pricing”, which allows more control by publishers over retail prices, in particular an unusual “most favored nation” (MFN) clause. Apple, Harper Collins, Hachette Livre, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan have all offered to terminate existing agency agreements and refrain from adopting price MFN clauses for five years. Penguin has not offered any commitments and an investigation into its conduct is ongoing. In addition, retailers would be free to set the retail price of ebooks, offering whatever discounts or promotions they wish, for a two-year period, so long as the total value of discounts does not exceed the total annual amount of commission that the retailer receives from the publisher, reported the E.U.’s Official Journal on Wednesday. This could mean lower prices for consumers thanks to increased competition. However the Commission is asking... Continue reading at 'PC World'
[ PC World | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#interested parties
#provide feedback
The Justice Department will lay out in a civil antitrust trial its accusations that Apple masterminded a cartel with publishers to raise ebook prices.For a company that beat down prices of online music, Apple Inc. finds itself in the odd situation of defending itself against government claims... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#electronic books
#government claims
#justice department
#fix prices
As publishers migrate beyond the first phase of the ebook revolution, the IDPF's Digital Book Conference on Wednesday will address ebooks on the web, tablets, phones and more. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#ebook revolution
#cross-platform publishing
#open web
Pearson PLC's book publishing business, Penguin Group, has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a dispute in the U.S. over the way it priced electronic books, drawing to a close an investigation into the publishing industry's ebook pricing tactics. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2013-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#publishing industry
#pearson plc
#penguin group
Arthur Attwell, founder of Paperight, explains why his company has leveraged the network of photocopy shops throughout South Africa to cater to hard-to-reach readers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-05-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#south africa
#publish ebooks
By negotiating for an agency pricing model with publishers, Apple says, it was simply seeking to enter a new market and offer competitive prices. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2013-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#e-book argument
Apple has responded to the US Department of Justice's charge that it conspired with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Chinese publishing houses, long frustrated by the sale of pirated books in the country, have... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#free ebooks
In 2012, Brazil became the latest battleground for the big international ebooksellers. Ebook sales have since skyrocketed, with Apple in the early lead ahead of Amazon. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#ebook sales
#ebook market
Visitors to London's Science Museum will be offered a free ebook from author Tony White, to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#free ebook
#science museum
It's well off the triple year-over-year growth that ebooks saw a few years ago, but the latest report from the Association of American Publishers shows that ebooks did inch up even further in 2012 to account for a sizeable chunk of overall book sales. According to its figures, ebooks now... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#ebook sales
#tenth anniversary
#book sales
#latest report
Ebooks accounted for 22.55 percent, or nearly a quarter, of U.S. book publishers’ sales in 2012, according to a full-year report released by the Association of American Publishers Thursday. That’s up from 17 percent of sales in 20 ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Discussions at this year's Leipzig Book Fair proved that ebooks and self publishing are gaining wider acceptance in Germany, and readers are more open to digitization. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
By minimizing the risk of buying a bad book, pay-as-you-read business models could translate into higher prices and higher quality content, but will it drive more sales? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#higher prices
As glad as we are that digital bookstores let authors skip the usual gatekeepers, that doesn't help much if they can't get noticed. Apple is giving those self-publishing writers more of a chance to shine with the launch of a permanent Breakout Books section in the US iBookstore. The section... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#major publishers
#books sell
#self-publishing writers
The American Library Association has created a scorecard that asks library workers to grade publishers on the way that they are offering ebooks for lending. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#offering ebooks
#ebook offerings
Aurum imprint Jacqui Small Publishing is moving into the illustrated ebook market, starting next... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#jacqui small
Forrester Research and DBW presented the findings of their Executive Publishing Survey on ebooks, devices and digital publishing predictions for 2013. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#forrester research
News out of Japan suggests Apple will launch Japanese-language ebooks in January, with a selection of 80,000 titles from publishers including Kadokawa, Shogakukan, and Kodansha. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
At the heart of the debate between publishers and libraries over ebook pricing and lending is a simple question: do libraries increase book sales or cannibalize them? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#simple question
#ebook pricing
Google Inc. (GOOG) reached a deal with Belgian newspaper publishers, resolving a six-year copyright battle that had blocked the owner of the world’s most-used search engine from publishing links to local newspapers. “We tur ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with:
#local newspapers
#search engine