UPDATE: EU Investigating E-Book Pricing For Antitrust Concerns
06 Dezember 2011 - 3:47PM
Dow Jones News
The European Union's antitrust watchdog is investigating five
publishers and tech giant Apple Inc. (AAPL) over the way they sell
e-books and the so-called agency pricing model, it said in a
statement Tuesday.
The publishing firms involved in the investigation are Hachette
Livre, owned by Lagardere Publishing; Harper Collins of News Corp.
(NWS); Simon & Schuster of CBS Corp. (CBSA); Penguin of Pearson
PLC (PSON.LN) and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holzbrinck.
"The Commission will in particular investigate whether these
publishing groups and Apple have engaged in illegal agreements or
practices," that would restrict competition, the statement said.
"The Commission is also examining the character and terms of the
agency agreements entered into by the above named five publishers
and retailers for the sale of e-books."
The agency model is a response by publishers to falling physical
book sales and the growing market for e-books, read on devices such
as Amazon's Kindle (AMZN). The success of e-books has resulted in
some retailers offering them at a heavy discount.
Six publishers agreed to set the consumer prices of their
digital titles and, under this model, retailers then acted as
agents for each sale, taking 30% and returning 70% to the
publisher.
Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, which owns publisher
Macmillan, confirmed it is being investigated. "The publishing
group holds that the allegations are unfounded," it said in a
statement.
A spokeswoman for HarperCollins said "We're co-operating fully
with the investigation," without giving further details.
The other companies didn't immediately respond to requests for
comment.
The duration of the formal proceedings, which opened today,
depends on how the companies involved respond to the investigation
and the complexity of each case. The opening of proceedings means
the Commission will treat the case as a matter of priority, it does
not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.
In February, the U.K.'s Office of Fair Trading announced an
investigation into agency pricing; it said Tuesday it will close
its investigation and "continue to cooperate closely with the
European Commission on this matter to help secure the best outcome
for U.K. consumers."
News Corp. also owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this
newswire and The Wall Street Journal.
-By Matina Stevis and Frances Robinson, Dow Jones Newswires; +32
(0)2 741 1 483; matina.stevis@dowjones.com
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