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 ]
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Evanston, IL—Agate Publishing Inc., the Evanston, Illinois-based independent press, has entered into a partnership with the Chicago Tribune to produce ebooks created from Chicago Tribune-owned content. The ebooks will appear as pa ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While Apple and book publishers may find themselves on the precipice of an antitrust lawsuit from the Justice Department, filings in a concurrent civil class-action lawsuit obtained by BetaNews indicate that Apple has already admitted to two of the most damaging allegations in the case that the... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Justice Department is reportedly preparing to go after Apple, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Penguin, Macmillan and HarperCollins following its investigation into alleged ebook price-rigging. The case centers around a deal to switch to agency pricing, where the vendor takes a 30 percent cut... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Justice Department has warned Apple Inc. and five of the biggest U.S. publishers that it plans to sue them for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books, according to people familiar with the matter. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Five US publishers are being threatened with legal action over the way they set prices for electronic books according to reports. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2012-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It remains to be seen if it's a full-on change of policy, but it looks like Amazon is at least shifting it stance when it comes to where some of the ebooks put out by its Amazon Publishing division are sold. As you may recall, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers recently pulled print... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Over 180 Japanese publishers have joined forces to launch an initiative that promises to create 1... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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UK publishers have expressed concern Amazon’s use of “power” to remove the e-... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin drops over-the-air downloads; now only Random House gives libraries unrestricted access to purchase and loan ebooks. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publishers have welcomed the launch of Apple’s iBooks Author self-publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Audit Bureau of Circulations [ABC] released survey results Monday that reveals attitudes of the publishing industry when in it comes to working with Apple Inc. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The highly anticipated launch of Apple's new iOS 5 is now here and with the new functionality comes new features--including one that publishers may find particularly valuable. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 03/10/2011 - 08:01 US independent publisher Perseus Books Group has launched a distribution and marketing service for authors wanting to self-publish their own ebooks, offering a 70% royalty rate to the author. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:06 One in five publishers is now generating more than 10% of their revenues from ebooks, with Amazon slowly decreasing in importance even as the giant e-tailer's revenues from ebooks continue to grow. The numbers are revealed in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple, its products adored by consumers all over, has nonetheless had a complicated relationship with publishers, who have battled with the tech giant over its intractable position involving the sale of content on its devices. But those who have railed against Apple's hard-headedness are... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 15:00 Simon & Schuster US has signed a deal to publish the physical editions of John Locke's Donovan Creed novels in North America. In June, Locke became the first self-published author to sell more than one million ebooks... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 10/08/2011 - 09:40 FIve US publishers and Apple have been named in a US lawsuit alleging the companies "illegally fix prices of electronic books" and that the five publishers "forced Amazon to abandon its discount pricing and adhere to a new... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 03/08/2011 - 09:14 Facebook has bought the innovative ebook publisher Push Pop Press but will not use the company to publish ebooks. The giant social networking website will instead use PPP's platform and technology to give "people even richer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 23/06/2011 - 07:26 Vintage Publishing has released the first ebooks from Nigella Lawson, with her Kitchen and Nigella Express books now available in digital format. Lawson's Nigella Quick Collection app has also been updated with 30... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Maybe Apple isnt so untouchable after all. The device maker, which has been locked in a battle with publishers, made a surprise concession recently, dropping a pricing requirement for its App Store that irked publishers. Before, publishers couldn't undercut the subscription price they offered... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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