Quote:
Originally Posted by AnemicOak
As I recall we do know that they made an overall profit on eBooks from the big five/six because it came out as part of discovery during the DOJ's case against the publishers and Apple. Just as part of the settlements is that all retailers can, for now, discount but must show an overall profit on each publishers titles.
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Amazon's profits or losses were not disclosed. There was no discovery of Amazon's P&L. And none of the publishers had the data. They wanted to discover it, but weren't permitted to do so.
Cote's order did order retailer profitability, but how this was to be proven was left in the air. Because the retailers weren't part of the lawsuit, Cote's order lacks enforceability against them. Basically the only option is to include a audit clause in future contracts, but if Amazon is unwilling to disclose such information to shareholders, it is unlikely to be willing to disclose such information to Hachette, and Cote cannot force Amazon to do so.
Amazon is not bound by the judge's order; only the parties to the lawsuit are.