Last week everyone was off to the races with speculation about what a settlement between big agency ebook publishers and the Justice Department might look like, but a measure of caution and patience is recommended on a number of fronts. Washington Post columnist Steve Pearlstein said over the weekend that settlement discussions “largely focus on two provisions of the publishers’ contract with Apple: one that prohibits the publishers from entering into ‘wholesale’ arrangements with Amazon or any other major distributor, and a second that guarantees that no other distributor will be allowed to sell books for less than Apple. It […]
Agency
Apple, Harper and Penguin Reply to Agency-Pricing Class Action Lawsuit
As negotiations reportedly continue between multiple publishers and the Department of Justice over possible modifications to the agency model for ebook sales, the lawsuit seeking class-action status in New York’s Southern District Court continues, with three of the plaintiffs filing responses to the allegations earlier this month. Apple, filing on March 2, took issue with the idea of any conspiracy between it and publishers, saying the original complaint “implausibly suggests Apple conspired with the publishers to address economic issues it was not facing, and coordinated actions it did not participate in.” That’s because, when the agency model was implemented in […]
Justice Department Said to Threaten Suit Over Agency eBook Pricing
The Wall Street Journal says that the Justice Department’s lengthy investigation of the agency model for ebook pricing has escalated, with the government threatening to sue the “Agency Five” publishers and Apple “for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books, according to people familiar with the matter.” The paper says that “some but not all” of the publishers involved have held settlement talks with Justice. Those same people said “the Justice Department believes that Apple and the publishers acted in concert to raise prices across the industry, and is prepared to sue them for violating federal antitrust laws.” […]
Agency Lawsuit Is Expanded; Draws On Information from Amazon
On Friday, the lead law firm in the consolidated class action suits over the agency ebook pricing model Hagens Berman filed an expanded, revised and amended 86-page complaint and promptly issued a press release, as they did with their original filing last August. To understand the case you shouldn’t rely on that release, however, which misspells the name of defendant “Hachett Livre” and trumpets having “uncovered statements” in exotic places like the New Yorker, Steve Jobs’ biography and company blogs. The complaint itself follows the same reasoning as the original filing, basing their allegation of conspiracy on reasoning–that for any […]
If This Story Is Right It Shows How Weak the Agency Lawsuits and Investigations Are
Washington antitrust attorney and former Justice Department lawyer Andre Barlow indicates to paidContent that in Justice’s current investigation “the main issue at stake is Apple and the publishers’ use of so-called ‘most favored nation’ clauses to set pricing.” Similarly, as they note, lead class action attorney Steve Berman writes, “The mfn clauses are significant restraints of trade and part of the anticompetitive acts we will attack.” Yet, as the article notes, “‘most favored nation’ clauses are not illegal, and are used in a variety of industries such as medical services.” Even Barlow “says that the clauses by themselves are not […]
Unsecured Borders Creditors to Get Close to 10 Cents on Dollar As Liquidation Plan Approved
Federal bankruptcy court put its official stamp on the end of Borders, as the chain’s liquidation plan was approved by Judge Martin Glenn on Tuesday. Approximately 98 percent of creditors holding $211.5 million in debt voted to approve the plan. As previously reported, unsecured creditors owed between $812 million and $850 million will receive 4 to 10 cents on the dollar, but court papers indicate that recovery may be in the “higher end of the range,” with Borders lawyer Andrew Glenn stipulating in court that percentage may be even higher still, according to Bloomberg. In addition, Borders got the go-ahead to […]