A number of Lunch devotees may have had this same recurring dream in which you are in court (in your pajamas, naturally) and executives, editors and agents are lined up to discuss, under oath, the details of their auctions and acquisitions. Or maybe it’s just a pitch for a “Deals Court” reality show? But Tuesday afternoon in Judge Florence Pan’s Courtroom 12, that was part of what unfolded, as the DOJ’s Jeffrey Vernon walked through a number of competitive situations in which S&S and PRH were the final two bidders for projects of scale. (In the fantasy version of Deals […]
Antitrust Trial
“Freelance Writer” Stephen King On the Stand
“My name is Stephen King; I’m a freelance writer.” So began what is likely to be the most entertaining testimony of the A3 trial, even if it seems unlikely to have great bearing on the case. (Though Judge Pan was clearly as charmed as everyone else to have the renowned author on the stand. When he was dismissed, smiling, broadly, she said, “It was a real pleasure to hear your testimony.”) King noted he was testifying voluntarily, because, “I think that consolidation is bad for competition; that’s my understanding of the book business.” As he recalled, “When I started there […]
It’s Actually Day One: Pietsch Testimony and Opening Arguments
The A3 antitrust trial went quickly from the excitement of the long-anticipated event — with cameras set up outside awaiting the non-arrival of Stephen King, due Tuesday, and long security lines for the many visitors — to the slow tedium of an actual trial, establishing a foundation with witnesses and trying to provide a crash course in the basics of book publishing. The good news for both sides — and all sides — is that Judge Florence Pan clearly lives up to her reputation as a rising star heading for the Court of Appeals. Throughout the day, she showed clear […]
A3 Trial: Revised Confidentiality Procedures
As the antitrust trial begins today, the parties jointly filed a proposed revised order for the handling of confidential material, and the anonymizing of certain names. For those who might be affected, the proposal is viewable here.
Slightly Unredacted
The parties in the A3 trial have been revising and resubmitting some of their key documents to more lightly redact data and citations. We already swapped in Penguin Random House’s newer version of their pre-trial brief on Monday, and now that post also includes a posted PDF of the Department of Justice’s revised brief as well (submitted to the court yesterday). Among the details now visible: When bidding for Simon & Schuster, Bertelsmann ceo Thomas Rabe expressed that the company faced “a disadvantage in the auction due to antitrust risks, which are likely to be greater in our case than […]
A3: Judge Allows Testimony on Bidding, Printing
In a pre-trial hearing yesterday, Judge Florence Pan ruled on five points in preparation for next month’s A3 trial, with both sides winning enough of what they wanted to declare victory (details below). Additionally, as the parties slim their final witness lists, literary agents Joy Harris, Chris Parris-Lamb, Kent Wolf and Kate McKean have all been dropped and will not have to testify. Also dropped were Jon Anderson, Bill Thomas and Wendy Wolf. In a sign of the sprawling burden of the case across the industry, the hearing was attended by 21 attorneys representing publishers and agents concerned about their […]