Justice Department formally charges Apple, big five publishers in ebook price fixing case (update)

The Justice Department has formally decided to sue Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillian, Penguin and Simon & Schuster over alleged ebook price-rigging. Apple and Macmillian have already denied any wrongdoing, saying that the agreements were enhancing competition in an industry previously dominated by Amazon. The case centers around a deal to switch to agency pricing, where the vendor takes a 30 percent cut of each sale rather than the wholesale model which allows stores to sell books at rock-bottom prices. It was previously believed that the publishers had cut back-room deals with the Government agency after bowing to pressure to withdraw Cupertino's "favored nation" status. If successful, the DoJ will allow Amazon and Barnes and Noble amongst others to return to the wholesale model to sell best-sellers at a loss, something that the big five are desperate to avoid, and will look to fight the battle in court. Update: The PDF of the DoJ's filing is now available online -- it makes for fascinating reading. Update 2: Bloomberg is now reporting that Simon & Schuster, Lagardère SCA's Hachette Book Group and HarperCollins have settled with the DoJ over unspecified terms. Hasty!Justice Department formally charges Apple, big five publishers in ebook price fixing case (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Bloomberg, Department of Justice filing (PDF)  | Email this | Comments Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2012-04-11 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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Barnes & Noble Updates NOOK for Android OS

Barnes & Noble is giving publishers another option to distribute digital periodicals, announcing Friday that its 140 newsstand brands will be available to Android-powered tablet devices. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-17 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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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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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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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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More agents to explore publishing models

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 08:38 Literary agents Curtis Brown and Blake Friedman have said they are planning to follow Ed Victor's move into publishing, after he announced an ebook and print-on-demand venture earlier this week. Curtis Brown m.d. Jonathan... 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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Publishers should use authors to help fight piracy

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 09:31 Publishers should not overspend in the fight against piracy, and should use their authors to present a "human face" in the battle for hearts and minds, a panel discussion at the World e-Reading Congress declared. The industry... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers could follow Random's agency move

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 15:34 Random House UK's switch to the agency model this week could lead other publishers to follow suit, despite the Office of Fair Trading investigating ebook pricing. The publisher's switch on Tuesday meant it has around... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Charlaine Harris sells 1m Kindle ebooks

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 09:19 Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series of novels, has become the latest writer to sell more than one million Kindle ebooks through Amazon. The author, who is published by Gollancz in the UK, joins Stieg... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers losing the battle against Angry Birds

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 15:36 Publishers need to diversify and compete head-on with other media in order to deflect the 'one-screen' effect of tablet devices, a panel discussion at the World e-Reading Congress declared. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Three French publishers file new lawsuit against Google

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 11/05/2011 - 08:11 French publishers Albin Michel, Flammarion and Gallimard are suing Google for having scanned 9,797 books without prior permission for its Google Book Search programme, a publishing source told The Bookseller. Lawyers for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers must change "radically' in digital age - Johnson

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 11/05/2011 - 10:46 Publishers selling direct to readers, printers folding and more agents becoming publishers are some of the implications of digital, claims former Borders chairman Luke Johnson. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ed Victor sets up publishing imprint

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 10/05/2011 - 12:22 The Ed Victor Literary Agency, one of the most powerful agencies in London, has launched its own ebook and print on demand venture, focusing initially on putting back into circulation out of print books or those on which... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Think short-term to stay ahead of digital change, publishers told

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 10/05/2011 - 16:07 Publishers should avoid locking themselves into any long term strategy, technology or partnerships in their digital publishing because they cannot accurately predict the next two years' developments, today's World eReading... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstone's plans ebook push for post-HMV era

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 10/05/2011 - 15:49 Waterstone's could soon bring e-reading front of store in its physical bookshops in a manner similar to Barnes & Noble with its Nook in the US, according to e-commerce manager Alex Ingrams. Speaking to delegates at the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Conde Nast Strikes Subscription Deal with Apple

Magazine giant Conde Nast has reached an agreement with Apple, Inc. on digital subscriptions of The New Yorker and seven other titles that will debut in the next few weeks. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple Brings Conde Nast Aboard the Subscription Bandwagon, Starting With the New Yorker [MediaMemo]

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[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Make a Plan: A ‘One Stop’ Book Site

In starting Bookish.com, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group USA and Hachette Book Group hope to provide one-stop shopping for books and information about authors. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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