Amazon is cracking down on merchants using its site to sell counterfeit textbooks, CNBC reported. A sting operation lead to the suspension of at least 20 merchants — a move intended to send publishers a clear message that Amazon is a serious partner in their effort to prevent the sale of counterfeit product. Booksellers whose accounts were suspended had all shipped counterfeit books to one Clara Dufour – a fake name, perhaps one carefully chosen boost the story’s PR. Amazon soon issued a statement: “These counterfeit books were caught in a test buy program we operate, which is just one […]
Swedish Subscription Service Positions Itself for Continuing International Growth
On December 3, Swedish digital audio and ebook subscription service Storytel moved trading of their B shares to the higher-profile Nasdaq First North (a part of the exchange reserved for small and high-growth European companies). As part of move, they provided an extensive company description that shares details about their growth and financials. Building on their foundation in Sweden, the company’s play is global: More than half of the close to 800,000 subscriber base resides outside of Sweden, reflecting an aggressive growth strategy in international markets, now including Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, India, Spain, Iceland, UAE, Italy, […]
Legal: Morton Victorious Over Agent; Krakauer Sues Over Into the Wild Musical; Report Challenges Tattoist
From Australia comes a reminder (not that we needed one) of the enduring value of written contracts. A court ruled in favor of Australian author Kate Morton, who was sued by her former literary agent Selwa Anthony (and then countersued for breach of “fiduciary duty and duty of care”). Anthony claimed that she was entitled to commissions on Morton’s backlist in perpetuity, despite having been fired in 2015, based on a claim of a verbal agreement in a 2002 phone conversation. The pair never had a written agency agreement; during the trial, Anthony said she “didn’t believe in contracts.” Justice […]
One Wholesaler to Rule Them All? Ingram Reportedly Looking at Baker & Taylor Acquisition
The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly conducting a “preliminary nonpublic investigation” about booksellers’ use of major wholesalers, Shelf Awareness reports, and telling some interview subjects that the queries are related to the possibility of Ingram acquiring Baker & Taylor. One person interviewed characterized it as a “fact finding” mission to investigate the effects of a consolidation that would leave the industry with a single major wholesaler, servicing both retail and library markets. ABA CEO Oren Teicher said, “To our knowledge, there has never been an instance in the book business when the elimination of competition–and a further concentration of decision-making in fewer hands–has […]
Barnes & Noble Education Shares Fall Hard On Poor Quarter
Barnes & Noble Education underperformed again, with second quarter sales falling 8.1 percent to $815 million, and investors headed straight for the door. Ninety minutes after the market opening, shares were down approximately 28 percent, to about $4.60 a share, which would be a new all-time low for the stock if it holds. (At that price, the market cap is around $209 million.) Sales at the College stores declined $54.4 million, with comparable store sales down 5.6 percent, “primarily due to lower textbook sales.” Sales from net new stores (new stores less closed stores) declined by $15.2 million, compared to an increase […]
Deadline Set for a Motion to Dismiss B&N Counterclaims Against Parneros
Former Barnes & Noble ceo Demos Parneros’s desire to ask the court to dismiss the bookseller’s countersuit against him persists, at least for a few more weeks, following a pre-motion conference on Thursday before Judge John G. Koetl. The judge set a December 21 deadline for the plaintiff’s counsel either to answer or move against Barnes & Noble’s counterclaims. But Judge Koetl discouraged the idea again, this time at great length. He said that “substantial hours” would be spent on it, which “wouldn’t make a whit of difference to the case.” Attorney Anne Clark seemed to be channeling her client […]