Though Penguin agreed to settle the ebook lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice in December, the company has yet to finalize a settlement of the parallel state ebook price-fixing lawsuit. With that second suit still pending and heading to trial, on Wednesday afternoon Judge Cote formally denied Penguin’s request to sit out the June 2013 trial (in which Penguin is formally named the lead defendant in the states’ case.) Penguin therefore must submit an initial witness list by March 1, and has until March 15 to file a motion that would “assert its right not to defend against the […]
DOJ
Judge Cote Sets Schedule For Reviewing Macmillan Settlement; Where Are the Discounts?
In a order issued Tuesday afternoon, Judge Cote set out a proposed schedule for reviewing Macmillan’s settlements with the DOJ, 49 states, and the civil class-action group, announced earlier this month. Per the schedule, the government must file all public comments by May 30, with additional motions on the settlement due from the DOJ by June 13. Responses to the motion are due June 27, and the government’s reply due July 8. A final hearing date before approving the settlements was not indicated in the papers, however. In a separate order, the DOJ ordered a teleconference hearing for Friday, February […]
Macmillan Settles 3 Cases; Discounting Starts this Week, Stimulus Starts Soon, But Penguin Still Hasn’t Settled with States
On Friday Macmillan actually agreed to settle three lawsuits all at once–the ebook pricing case brought by the Department of Justice, but also the parallel case led by a consortium of attorneys general for the states and even the class-action case filed on behalf of consumers. Separately, also on Friday, the presiding judge over all of the cases Denise Cote gave final approval to the states’ settlement with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. As a result, the payout of restitution to qualifying consumers will begin “as soon as practicable.” (Earlier documents indicated payouts would begin 30 days […]
Discounting of Macmillan Books to Start By Next Week
When Macmillan ceo John Sargent said in a letter Friday morning that discounting of their ebooks under the settlement with Department of Justice “will take effect quickly,” he really meant it. The court filing is more blunt on the matter: “Macmillan must allow its e-book retailers to discount within three business days of agreeing to the settlement, even if it has not formalized new contracts with retailers.” DOJ writes that “the proposed Macmillan Final Judgment does not give Macmillan a choice” in notifying and renegotiating with retailers–as the original settlement had done–“to provide for more prompt relief to consumers.” But it’s […]
Macmillan Settles DOJ Case
Macmillan ceo John Sargent told the publishers’ community Friday morning they company is settling the lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice: “We settled because the potential penalties became too high to risk even the possibility of an unfavorable outcome.” As Sargent explains, each time another company settled with DOJ, that increased Macmillan’s potential liability, to the point where the risk became untenable. As a result of the settlement, “retailers will now be able to discount Macmillan e-books for a limited time,” even beyond the limited 10 percent discounting on ebooks priced at $13.99 and above that they introduced last […]
People: Weber Appointed Macmillan Trade COO, and More
Andrew Weber has joined Macmillan as global trade chief operating officer, reporting to ceo John Sargent. In his new role, Weber will be responsible for all US finance, accounting, distribution, legal, human resources, technology, M&A, and strategy functions, while also overseeing Macmillan’s UK distribution business MDL and global responsibility for trade administration and technology. Weber spent 16 years at Random House, eventually serving as svp, operations and technology, and was most recently vp, operations at e-commerce startup Bonobos. In a statement Sargent said, “I am delighted that Andrew has agreed to join us. His wide breadth of experience in strategy, […]