Over the weekend, preliminary witness lists were filed for the upcoming trial. Perhaps most notable is that the government intends to call longtime Scribner/S&S marquee author Stephen King early in the proceedings. (He is likely to follow HBG USA ceo Michael Pietsch*, and literary agent Ayesha Pande). Following the revelation on Friday that PRH has hired former literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh as an “expert witness” — now listed as their first witness — the publisher also expects to call agent Andrew Wylie among others (cue comical UK headlines about “The Jackal”). Here is a broader look at industry people […]
Antitrust Trial
A3: Monopsowhat, Do Doo Be-Do-Do
Yes, the pending trial is serious business, with a lot of money and the power structure of big publishing on the line, but for many of us, it’s a first-time encounter with understanding (and having to explain to your family) “monopsony”– which, after a weekend spent with hundreds of pages of legal documents, starts sounding a lot like the unforgettable Sesame Street song. In their original complaint, the DOJ alleges that allowing PRH to acquire S&S “would likely result in substantial harm to authors” by “leaving hundreds of authors with fewer alternatives and less leverage.” They suggest that the combined […]
A3: How Confidential?
An open question for everyone following along — and a critical issue for agents and authors whose deals will be discussed — is how the court will treat the “highly confidential” information that was garnered and discussed during discovery and deposition, with promises that key details would not be revealed at trial. In pre-trial filings, the government indicates that, “Confidential exhibits will be kept out of public video during in-court testimony (i.e., turning off gallery monitors) and kept under seal until the end of trial. Partially confidential exhibits may be publicly displayed with the confidential portions redacted; confidential portions will […]
A3: More Details On Printing and Bidding Issues
On Friday we highlighted two pre-trial disputes: The DOJ trying to exclude discussion of PRH’s pledge to have Simon & Schuster mostly bid independently after the merger, and PRH trying to block the DOJ from presenting a broader case than what was in their original complaint, extending to look at PRH and Bertelsmann’s influence in the limited market for book printing. Weekend filings shed a little more light on both issues. While the DOJ’s full response on the book printing issue was filed under seal, PRH’s reply quotes from the sealed document (go figure), underscoring the emphasis Justice may want […]