02/07, 11:35am
Random House stays pay-once with e-book libraries
Random House helped set a possible precedent for e-books in libraries late last week after it agreed to a deal on lending. While it would raise the price for an e-book by an unspecified amount, the term would guarantee that libarires could have any title they want and provide an unlimited number of loans. The deal was portrayed to Publishers Weekly and others as giving authors fair compensation while still letting libraries treat e-books like they would paper.
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12/06, 7:30am
EC worries iBookstore may have made illegal deals
The European Commission detailed plans Tuesday for a formal investigation into major publishers and Apple as to whether their deal might violate EU antitrust law. Officials will determine whether Hachette Livre, HarperCollins, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan have possibly used Apple to shut out e-book competition from rival stores or publishers. EC staff are worried that the agency model, where the store makes a flat rate and the publishers set the prices, is keeping the price of titles on the iBookstore and elsewhere artificially high.
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08/09, 6:45pm
Hagens Berman sues Apple over iBookstore prices
Seattle-area law firm Hagens Berman on Tuesday filed a class action lawsuit accusing Apple of colluding with publishers to fix iBookstore prices. The suit, submitted in a Northern District of California court by representing members Anthony Petru and Marcus Mathis, accuses Apple of making unfair deals with Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster to artificially keep prices high. In adopting the agency pricing model, where the store takes a fixed cut but lets publishers dictate the price, Apple set terms that forced Amazon to abandon the wholesale model for the Kindle and raise its prices.
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02/01, 6:25pm
UK agency joins US in investigating e-book prices
The UK's Office of Fair Trading said on Tuesday that it would look into possible antitrust violations in the pricing set by e-book retailers and publishers. It said it had received a "significant number of complaints" about the pricing. While no companies were named, the WSJ heard the issue was with the agency business model used by Amazon's Kindle store and Apple's iBookstore in collaboration with at least HarperCollins and Penguin.
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12/15, 4:45pm
Area generally unexploited in tablets
Over 100 illustrated books have been added to the iBookstore in tandem with the release of iBooks 1.2, says the New York Times. These are spread across several different genres, including cooking, photography and children's books. Some notable titles include Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home, a photo collection by Ansel Adams and the Olivia series of picture books.
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07/01, 11:00am
Brings major publishers in tow
In tandem with Canada Day, Apple has finally expanded the availability of paid books to the Canadian iBookstore. Several major publishers have begun selling titles, including Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. Book prices may vary substantially, but some featured launch titles range in cost between $12 and $18, roughly in line though perhaps slightly more expensive than US editions.
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06/02, 11:00am
Texas AG thinks iBookstore pricing may be unfair
Texas' attorney general is investigating Apple and publishers for possible anti-competitive e-book pricing, multiple sources said on Wednesday [sub. required]. At least Hachette and HarperCollins have confirmed they were asked to provide documents, but Apple is also believed to be a target. The WSJ speculates that the investigation may have to do with Apple's preference for an agency model on the iBookstore, where publishers have control over the pricing.
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03/31, 7:05pm
Amazon Kindle sees majors follow iBookstore model
Amazon today bowed to pressure ahead of the iPad launch by striking new Kindle book deals with HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. Similar to the terms for Macmillan, the change will let both publishers use an agency model that gives them control over prices. Some bestseller e-books will now cost between $13 to $15; others will still cost the usual $10, but others should be priced below Amazon's average.
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02/05, 8:20pm
Amazon fulfills promise after price war
Amazon today confirmed that it has put back Macmillan's titles on both the Kindle store and in its regular store. The move follows after Amazon agreed to raise prices on e-books last weekend as the result of a three-day standoff. Amazon had unsuccessfully tried to withdraw books as a negotiating tactic to keep prices at $10.
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02/02, 10:10pm
Murdoch says Apple more flexible than Amazon
News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch today openly dismissed Amazon's e-book store in favor of Apple's in his company's fiscal results call on Tuesday. The executive, who also owns publisher HarperCollins, argued that the Kindle store's $10 or less pricing "devalues books" and punishes those selling hard copies. He instead favored Apple's deal with HarperCollins for iBooks and the iPad, which he hinted would allow a "variety of slightly higher prices" that could bend to reflect demands.
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01/18, 8:20pm
Harper would set prices at Apple store
Publisher HarperCollins is negotiating e-books for Apple's upcoming tablet, a late Wednesday rumor says. Referring to its typical "people familiar with the matter," the WSJ provides few details but does say HarperCollins would set the base prices while Apple would take a cut of sales. Many of the terms are believed in flux even just days before Apple's announced January 27th event.
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12/11, 4:05pm
HarperCollins joins others in delaying e-books
HarperCollins is the latest publishing house to announce it will delay the release of new electronic books in order to give their hardcover counterparts more time on the shelves and to ensure the longevity of the book industry in general. The chief executive of HarperCollins, Brian Murray, said the delays will start in January or February and involve the delay of five to 10 new hardcover titles each month. Depending on the book, the delay could range from four weeks to six months.
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