Fair Trade Practices

Amazon acquires Avalon Books; Authors Guild says DOJ proposal needlessly imperils bookstores; Lammy winners announced; Oprah Book Club returns

The deadline to submit comments to the Department of Justice about the proposed settlement with three of the five publishers involved in the DOJ’s civil suit regarding the agency model is June 25.

As of Thursday, May 24, booksellers have 32 days to submit a letter to the Department of Justice expressing their opinions about the proposed settlement with three of the five publishers involved in DOJ’s civil suit regarding the agency model.

As BTW arrives in your inbox, there are 39 days left for booksellers to submit a letter to the Department of Justice expressing their opinions about the proposed settlement with three of the five publishers involved in DOJ’s civil suit regarding the agency model.

Judge denies motion to dismiss e-book class action suit; Indie bookstore to open in Kent, Ohio; Lambda Literary names Mid-Career Novelist Prize winners; Kids Right to Read Project opposes removal of John Green novel; NEIBA arrives at new home; NAIBA names Helmuth Sales Rep of the Year

On Thursday, May 3, ABA CEO Oren Teicher e-mailed member stores about an important opportunity to make a public comment about the Department of Justice consent decree in regard to the agency model.

In the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice’s filing of a civil suit in district court in New York against Apple and five of the major publishers with agency model pricing for e-books, there were a lot of opinions about the nature and fairness of the suit, as well as some of the implications for the industry. Here is a roundup of some of the press coverage.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil suit in district court in New York against Apple and five of the major publishers with agency model pricing for e-books. Three of the publishers have agreed to settle; Apple and the other two publishers appear to be headed for court.

NCIBA Executive Director Hut Landon wrote to Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein  and Rep. Nancy Pelosi to express concern that the DOJ investigation into charges of price fixing between Apple and five publishers using the agency model to sell e-books “is ignoring the real story.”

On Monday, ABA Board members and staff met with representatives of the  Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., to express ABA’s support for agency model pricing of e-books in connection with the Department’s ongoing investigation of e-book pricing terms.

The National Retail Federation, along with the Food Marketing Institute, the National Association of Convenience Stores, and two retailers, has filed a lawsuit charging the Federal Reserve of failing to follow key swipe-fee requirements of The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

This week, ABA CEO Oren Teicher wrote to Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general, to urge him to refocus his office’s recently announced inquiry into agreements between the industry’s major publishers and Amazon.com and Apple, Inc.

Canadian booksellers are not sitting still as they await the government's decision on Amazon's application to open a warehouse in Canada. "Our members are writing their MPs, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and the Prime Minister of Canada to express their concerns," said Canadian Booksellers Association (CBA) Executive Director Susan Dayus.

On November 2, the trade association ComicsPRO wrote to the U.S. Department of Justice to join in the American Booksellers Association's request that the department investigate practices by Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Target that "may constitute illegal predatory pricing."

ComicsPRO represents the interests of direct-market comic book retailers, and its letter was signed by its nine-member Board of Directors.

Last week, the Board of Directors of the American Booksellers Association sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting that it investigate practices by Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Target that it believes constitute illegal predatory pricing.