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 […]
Legal
Judge Sets March 11 Meeting Date on Booksellers’ Suit
Judge Jed Rakoff, the Southern District judge named to preside over the suit filed by three independent booksellers against Amazon and the “big six” publishers, has stipulated a March 11 case management and scheduling conference among the parties. None of the parties have responded to the suit yet, which is not unusual, so the judge’s order indicates that “the fact that any party has not answered the complaint does not excuse attendance by that party or warrant any adjournment of the conference.” For now, the court “requires that this case shall be ready for trial on August 12, 2013,” though […]
ABA Supports “The Concerns” Raised In Booksellers’ Suit
In their first response to the lawsuit filed by three booksellers a week ago against Amazon and the six largest trade publishers, the American Booksellers Association acknowledged that the organization “was approached by one of the plaintiffs” in mid-2012. At that time, they say they were asked “to participate in an antitrust action solely against Amazon.com.” (Refer yourself back to the letter to the DOJ we cited in Friday’s Lunch.) The ABA writes that it “shares the concerns of the plaintiff booksellers regarding Amazon.com’s business practices, as raised in the recently filed lawsuit,” but the statement does not mention the […]
HBG Denounces Bookseller Lawsuit
Another of the publisher defendants in the lawsuit filed last week by three independent booksellers seeking class action status has issued a statement regarding the filing. HBG writes: “The Complaint is absolutely without merit. Hachette Book Group has actively participated in many digital initiatives sponsored by the ABA for the benefit of Indies. We did not take any actions to harm bookstores and Hachette has a strong and long-standing record of support for brick-and-mortar shops, so we are surprised and disappointed that a handful of customers would make these unfounded charges (confusingly, one of the plaintiffs filed a formal comment supporting the very publishers named in this new […]
As Slowly As Possible, EU Takes Luxembourg and France to Court Over Low eBook VAT
It has been obvious since France and Luxembourg first lowered their VAT on sales on ebooks as of the beginning of 2012 (to 7 percent and 3 percent respectively) that they were doing so in violation–and intentional defiance–of European Union law. After a stern letter, a “reasoned opinion,” and some more waiting, 14 months after the tax changes began the European Commission is finally saying it will take the two nations to the European Court of Justice. No trial date was disclosed, so we expect it will be more months still before any proceedings begin. And even after the two […]
Three Independent Bookstores File Class Action Suit Against Amazon and Big Six, Seeking Removal of eBook DRM
Apparently the book business and litigation will be increasingly intertwined, with the latest unexpected lawsuit coming from three independent booksellers. Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany; Posman Books of NYC; and Fiction Addition of South Carolina filed a suit in New York Federal Court on February 15 seeking class action status on behalf of hundreds “independent brick-and-mortar bookstores who sell e-books.” They are suing Amazon and the six largest trade publishers, claiming “unreasonable restraint of trade and commerce in the market for e-books,” and also charge Amazon with attempted monopolization of the ebook market and violations of sections 1 […]