As expected, the three US Settlers (Harper, Hachette and Simon & Schuster), along with Macmillan and Apple, have settled the EU investigation into ebook pricing as previously negotiated. The European Commission has formally “accepted the legally binding commitments” from the settling parties. Their announcement provides a lengthy way of saying that the EC has accepted the same basic settlement that was laboriously negotiated with the US Department of Justice (without ever actually mentioning the US case). Though Penguin has not settled with the EC, the new announcement says that position may change–not a big surprise, since settlements in both Europe […]
Agency
Simon & Schuster Also Moves to New Agency Lite Pricing
Over the weekend Simon & Schuster became the last of the three Settlers (publishers settling the ebook pricing case with the Department of Justice) to implement new Agency Lite ebook pricing and new sales contracts with ebook retailers. As with the other Settlers, the best place to research S&S’s new pricing is on the publisher’s own web site. Amazon is not showing their ebook list prices, though Barnes & Noble is; also as with the others, Amazon shows that Simon & Schuster is still the seller of record. To be clear, since other articles have already made this mistake, Simon […]
HBG Moves to Agency Lite with Amazon and Others
Hachette Book Group has reached a new overall sales agreement with Amazon. As part of that agreement, HBG now moves to selling ebooks on an “agency lite” basis with the US trade’s leading retailer. Amazon no longer lists HBG ebook prices as having been set by the publisher, but does still list the titles themselves as “sold by Hachette Book Group.” (These are the technical details that confirm HBG is no longer controlling the consumer price, as required under the DOJ settlement, but continues an agency selling relationship as the seller of record.) As was the case when HarperCollins moved […]
Popular Accounts of Pending EC Agency Settlement Lose Sight of Primary Effect–Which Is the UK Only
In another bit of clean-up, yesterday’s Reuters report–which simply reaffirmed that the mid-September offer from Apple, Hachette, Harper, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster to settle the European Commission investigation into the introduction of agency ebook pricing on terms very similar to the Department of Justice settlement in the US is likely to be approved–has added to the misunderstanding rather than clarified it. Reuters declares “that decision would hand online retailer Amazon a victory in its attempt to sell e-books cheaper than rivals,” which is echoed and expanded on in other press accounts. What’s missing is the understanding and acknowledgement that […]
How the State Settlement Will Boost the Book Business
Yes, it’s another settlement piece. But there’s some good news for the entire industry that has not been fully appreciated yet. While the pending settlement with the states will cost the Settlers money, almost all of that money–and potentially more–will flow right back into the book business. The way the settlement is constructed, you could consider it a little Book Publishing Stimulus Act, particularly since the proceeds will be available to consumers in time for the busiest book-buying time of the year. The Stimulus Act endeavors to put about $65 million into the hands of people who bought ebooks from […]
Annals of Agency Lite: Wednesday
While people wait for the next shoe (or two), here are some additional observations on nouveau Agency. Feel free to send us your questions (or post them in the comments). Will Everything Go Faster? A process that could have taken over a month to recalibrate now looks like it could be mostly resolved by the end of this week or beginning of next, following Harper’s quick move to new contracts. That plus the imminent expiration of Apple contracts is both accelerating and potentially simplifying the renegotiation process. And as we have seen with Harper, even when retailers may not have […]