Publishing insiders worry that a decisive court ruling benefiting retailer Amazon.com Inc. will undermine an industry already struggling with the transition to e-books.
A federal court Thursday approved a settlement between the Justice Department and three of the country's largest publishers, who were accused of colluding to fix prices for e-books. Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers and Simon & Schuster were alleged to have conspired with Apple Inc. to control the price of e-books sold online as part of a larger effort to end Amazon's online dominance.
The two elements of wrongdoing alleged in the case — publishing competitors conspiring to limit competition in the e-book market, and fixing the retail price — are a sign of an industry grappling with disruptive change.
"Here is an example of what I would call a desperate last stand by publishers to protect themselves against a paradigm shift in publishing — and they failed," said Jonathan Kirsch, a Los Angeles-based author and publishing attorney.
"By putting the legal approval on this settlement, the district court has pushed us over a certain kind of cliff. In terms of the real-life experiences of publishers, authors and readers, this will represent a fundamental change in how books are published and sold," Kirsch said.
The decision has thrown the publishing world into turmoil. The Authors Guild, a 100-year-old organization representing writers, issued a statement warning that the ruling would turn the clock back to 2010, when Amazon sold 90% of all e-books. The retailer's share dropped to 60% after Apple's introduction of the iPad and iBookstore in 2010 and Barnes & Noble's unveiling of the Nook e-reader.
From the Los Angeles Times
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