EU starts investigation into e-book price fixing

[rogue_librarian]

Antitrust: EU Commission confirms unannounced inspections in the e-book publishing sector

The European Commission can confirm that on 1 March 2011 Commission officials initiated unannounced inspections at the premises of companies that are active in the e-book (electronic or digital books) publishing sector in several Member States.

The Commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and other restrictive business practices

[...]

(Source)

What took them so long? :-)

[HarryT]

This follows on from the OFT investigation in the UK, discussed previously.

[rogue_librarian]

Yes, I'm glad something is being done. Now if only the US could get their act together...

[JeremyR]

But I thought that certain countries actually fixed book prices themselves? To help smaller bookstores?

And considering that book publishing is basically the one industry that can directly give money to a politician (for writing a book), I wouldn't hold my breath on anything happening to the US.

They don't even have to hold a fundraising dinner (which is what got Google out of that WiSpy case).

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

Yes, I'm glad something is being done. Now if only the US could get their act together...

[Yolina]

Jeremy, in France the retail prices for both paper and ebooks are fixed by the publishers - this is actually an obligation under French law, though the retailers are allowed to apply a discount of up to 5% at their discretion - at least it's consistent!

In the UK, publishers are not allowed to fix the retail price of paper books (the Net Price Agreement was ruled anti-competitive and illegal) but for now some are getting away with agency pricing for ebooks...

Edit: I don't know about other EU countries, it would be nice people could post what the legal position in their county is

[jbcohen]

Can any of our european members verify the credibility of the source of this news.

[nwhitfield]

Impeccable; Europa is an official EU website. The story's also been featured on the Reuters news wire, too.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by Yolina

I don't know about other EU countries, it would be nice people could post what the legal position in their county is

You can read most about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_Book_Price_Agreement

That said, even if the laws of one country mandate it this doesn't necessarily mean that the EU will stand for it indefinitely. And lastly, it's not entirely clear whether the fixed price agreements apply to ebooks as well. The German Book Publisher's Association initially denied that, they only changed their mind in 2008 (if memory serves).

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Can any of our european members verify the credibility of the source of this news.

It's an official statement by the EU commission. Reuters UK carries it, and so does Heise (in German). Meaning, credibility quotient as close to 100% as you're going to get.

[Andrew H.]

Germany also "fixes" book prices.

This investigation - as similar investigations in the US - is probably not about agency pricing itself...as discussed above, many European companies require fixed pricing. (And presumably the EU is not raiding the Bundestag:-)).

What they are presumably investigating are the "most favored nation" clauses in the agency agreements. I.e., contract provisions that prohibit the publisher from setting a lower price for Amazon than it does for B&N or Apple.

In other words, it's almost certainly okay for the publisher to set prices (particularly in continental Europe). It's likewise almost certainly okay for the publisher to set the same prices. But it may not be okay for the publisher to *agree* to not offer differential pricing.

[0utis]

In Spain, the publishers fix a price and stores can't discount a book by more than 5% - two days a year they can go up to 10%. That is the law. What it is illegal and against EU competition laws is a pact among several publishers agreeing to a common fixed price for all their books.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

In other words, it's almost certainly okay for the publisher to set prices (particularly in continental Europe). It's likewise almost certainly okay for the publisher to set the same prices. But it may not be okay for the publisher to *agree* to not offer differential pricing.

It may not have been okay for the publishers to get together and agree to move to Agency pricing together. It is that coordination between competitors that starts people talking about cartels.

[Toxaris]

In the Netherlands the p-book prices are fixed and set by the publishers. However, a store may offer discount to a certain degree. The prices are fixed, according to the publishers, to cover the losses of the less popular titles. Those less popular titles are usually the 'dutch literature' titles that nobody wants to read, usually for good reasons.... The 'good' dutch literature will sell anyway.

I can't really say anything about the dutch e-book market, but my impression is that the prices are the same in every store. I can't tell, because I hardly have dutch books on my reader and the ones I have will never be an e-book if it is up to the publishers.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by Yolina

Jeremy, in France the retail prices for both paper and ebooks are fixed by the publishers - this is actually an obligation under French law, though the retailers are allowed to apply a discount of up to 5% at their discretion - at least it's consistent!

Yes, but consistently what is the question. Yay or Ugh?!