On Tuesday the European Commission announced proposed settlement “commitments” from Amazon to give up a variety of restrictive “parity clauses” in their ebook contracts with publishers across Europe, following a “preliminary assessment” reached on December 9, 2016 concluding “the clauses may breach EU antitrust rules and result in reduced competition among e-book distributors, and less consumer choice.” The new settlement comes quickly after Amazon’s Audible subsidiary agreed earlier this month to end its worldwide exclusivity agreements on digital audiobooks with Apple’s iTunes stores. The ebook settlement includes the publication of the EC’s “preliminary view” that Amazon “may violate EU antitrust rules” […]
International News
People: Pallante to Head AAP, and More
Former Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante will join the Association of American Publishers on January 17 as the new president and ceo of the organization, taking over following the planned retirement of Tom Allen. She says in the announcement: “I am deeply inspired by the values of the American publishing industry. Publishers promote literature, literacy, education, and research around the world, while advocating for free speech, creating jobs, and making considerable contributions to the global marketplace. It will be a privilege to represent these interests in matters of policy, trade and business.” AAP board chair YS Chi comments, “Maria is […]
People, Etc.
Tom Thompson has joined SMP as vp, creative services and advertising. Thompson most recently was svp, digital strategy/group director of Verso Advertising, where he worked for 10 years. At William Morrow, Emily Krump has been promoted to senior editor. Bookselling Barnes & Noble will close their downtown Minneapolis store at Nicollet Mall in May when the lease expires. The company admitted that the two-floor, 25,000-square-foot store is too big and unsuccessfully tried to negotiate with the landlord for a 14,000 to 16,000-square foot space on one floor. It’s yet another sign that the bookseller is looking to reshape its store […]
HarperCollins Buys Out Ediouro In Brazil; Firebrand Launches Eloquence on Alert
HarperCollins has bought out Ediouro, its partner in HarperCollins Brasil, to take sole ownership of the venture. Harper Brasil is also moving its headquarters to Rua da Quitanda in Rio de Janeiro’s financial center. CEO Brian Murray said in the announcement: “While we have enjoyed a successful relationship with Ediouro, we are very pleased to take full ownership of HarperCollins Brasil. We see Brazil as an area of growth both for titles from our global imprints being published into the region, as well as for local authors. We are excited about this new structure and the new home for the organization.” […]
Rakuten Kobo Acquires the Tolino Tech Platform from Deutsche Telekom
Rakuten Kobo announced on Tuesday they have signed contracts to acquire the Tolino ebook technology platform serving the German-language ebook market from founding partner Deutsche Telekom at the end of January 2017, pending approval from the German Federal Cartel Office. (That paperwork was filed December 22.) Kobo will join the three bookseller partners Hugendubel, Thalia and Weltbild. CEO Michael Tamblyn says in the announcement, “Together with our partners from the German book trade, we intend to continue to enhance the tolino ecosystem for its many dedicated customers. This acquisition allows us to bring Rakuten Kobo’s experience with collaborating with book retailers around […]
PRH UK Returns to Negotiate New Collective Agreement
After a tumultuous week of stories that do not fully align, Penguin Random House UK and the two unions representing some of their employees are talking again, and reporting progress towards a new agreement. On Wednesday, PRH UK and the unions Unite and the National Union of Journalists issued a joint statement saying that they “held a positive meeting today at which all parties agreed to continue talks with the aim of securing a new collective agreement for the combined Penguin Random House UK business. While some elements of the agreement in discussion are yet to be finalized and agreed […]