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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EU regulators have hinted that they are open to a deal with European publishers over the agency... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors Guild President Scott Turow charges in an open letter about ebook pricing: “Our government may be on the verge of killing real competition in order to save the appearance of competition.” Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Immediate Media has promoted Andy Healy to the position of publishing director, it was announced today (12 March). Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2012-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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(Bloomberg) - News Corp.'s HarperCollins and four other publishers probed by European Union need to address regulatory concerns before they can settle the antitrust case, the European Union's competition commissioner said. Joaquin Almunia, the antitrust chief, told reporters Monday that a... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tensions between academic booksellers and publishers are likely to heighten following the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Justice Department is warning Apple and its publisher partners they may have to answer for their pricing model. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On March 21, 10 of Judy Blume's books for young readers will become available as ebooks. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple certainly had a lot of bases to cover at yesterday's new iPad unveiling, so some minor details were bound to slip through the cracks. While app suites like iLife and iWork got to bask in the Yerba Buena spotlight touting enhanced resolutions for that Retina Display, the company's decidedly... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Before his death in October of last year, one of Steve Jobs' last big moves was Apple's foray into electronic books. The company announced the platform in March 2010, but the method in which Apple handled its deals with publishers has caught the eye of regulators. The Justice Department plans to... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Little, Brown author Val McDermid has backed the role of publishers, as children's laureate... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Between Google Books, iBooks, Nook, Kindle, Kobo, Sony... you'd figure the ebook field was crowded enough, right? Well, if you're specifically in the market for children's stories, things might look a little less packed. We guess that's why Scholastic is attempting to enter the fray with Storia,... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scholastic's Storia reading app includes many children's titles previously unavailable in ebook format Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's a case of having one's cake and eating it, too. Or, in this instance, digitizing the works of others and reselling them online for a 40 percent cut. According to Le Temps, a controversial new law recently passed by the French government will see out-of-print books from the 20th century... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite consumer uncertainty in buying online, and publisher uncertainty in partnering with Amazon, ebooks sales are dominating the market. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2012-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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No one is coming back to check a publisher’s Web site,” said Rachel Fershleiser, who works in literary strategic outreach at Tumblr, calling to mind a dull Web site that offers a catalogue and not much else. Incentive to come back, Fershleiser said, is the key to building a presence online,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oddly, Random House deciding to triple the price of its ebooks for libraries is being considered a compromise. While others, like Penguin, are pulling their electronic tomes from the virtual shelves of our lending institutions, Random House is at least willing to still play ball -- even if it's... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kate Lyall Grant is to become the new publisher of Severn House, with overall responsibility for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With iPad 3 rumored to be on the way—possibly boasting a sharper screen and talking personal assistant Siri—Apple CEO Tim Cook may drop the price of the iPad 2 so he can go after the cheaper tablet market now dominated by Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook. Analysts figure a $200 to... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The most pressing issues facing publishers today all stem from one central concern: To deliver relevant, targeted and in-demand content to readers where and whenever they want it, to break through the wall of information overload and determine what exactly that is—which seems to be expanding and... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2012-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AD TRENDS ON SOLID GROUND In the fourth quarter of 2011, most ad pages declined—but not in the Financial and Real Estate category. Ad pages for this sector were up 23% to 1,683 pages, from 1,372 pages the year before. The biggest... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2012-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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