Posted on Jan 15, 2021 12:59 PMUpdated Jan 15, 2021, 1:48 PM
Turbulent week for Amazon. In the United States, a collection action has been launched against the Seattle giant by several consumers of electronic books (e-books). The latter claim that the firm headed by Jeff Bezos would have entered into illegal agreements with the “big five” of the edition in 2015 – Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster -, in order to artificially increase the price.
According to a Bloomberg study, Amazon assumed nearly 90% of the American market with its e-readers in 2018, while the cumulative electronic sales of the five publishers would represent nearly 80% of the American market, can we read in the complaint. « In a competitive market, the “big five” could sell their e-books at a lower price on their own sites or through competing Amazon platforms which would charge lower fees and commissions. But the “big five” agree not to sell at a lower price than on Amazon.com “, Details the law firm Hagens Berman who speaks” contractual strangulation ».
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