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Apple investigated over eBook prices

Alan — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 06:04:17 +0000

Apple, as well as five large publishing houses, have been accused of collusion by the European anti-trust authority. The European commission has recently announced that they suspect that Apple, as well as these large publishing houses, have been engaging in anti-competitive behaviour which is affecting the prices of electronic books.

The European Commission has said that it is particularly concerned over the agreements that have been entered into by the publishers of the books as well of the electronic manufacturer Apple, who have made no comment about the accusations.

Pearson, one of the publishers who has been accused of anti-competitive practices has stated, “We fully intend to cooperate with the European Commission and we do not believe we have breached any competition laws and we want to see this investigation concluded as quickly as possible.”

Another publisher, Simon & Schuster has stated, “We intend to cooperate with his investigation fully.” Other publishers are yet to comment about the accusations and the impending investigation.

A similar situation has already be seen in the United States and there has been litigation already taken to court. The law firm Hagens Berman filed a law suit in Northern California saying that Apple had been working with publishers to artificially increase the price of e-books, so that Amazon would have to abandon its low-cost books, which were beneficial to the consumer.

The law firm stated, “Apple were worried that the fact that Amazon was setting its prices low would mean that there would be an expectation in the industry for low prices and this was something they did not want to see. Therefore they colluded with publishers and engaged in anti-competitive practices.”

Until recently, the price of books was largely controlled by the retailers but this has changed and publishers are now wanting more control about how much the books are sold for. Many people suspect that Apple has been pressuring publishers to do this so they have more of a say over how much the ebooks are sold for. These changes have meant that the prices of the books are more expensive than they would be if the market were fully competitive.

In March, European authorities conducted surprise inspections of the various companies suspected of collusion and evidence was gathered that the commission will be using in its attempt to prove anti-competitive practices.

In the UK many complaints were also received by the Office of Fair Trading and this further led European authorities to suspect that something was amiss in the pricing structure of books. The OFT have closed their investigation so that the European authorities can take over and handle the matter entirely. If these companies are found guilty of collusion, and artificially setting the prices of books, then the European Commission has the power to fine them up to 10% of their sales revenue.

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Harry Potter ebooks will happen after all

Alan — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:28:42 +0000

Author J.K. Rowling, after being witness to the magic of e-books, is now ready to take Harry Potter digital in a move that may just revolutionize the e-book industry giving the second wealthiest woman in the entertainment business, trailing only Oprah Winfrey, another huge windfall.

She is now hinting, after declining e-books deals for many years, that she will most likely release digital versions soon so that all those iPad and Kindle users will have Harry Potter digitally at their fingertips.

This would transform the market and increase her net worth even more. Rowling’s net worth is estimated to be over £620 million (US$1bn) according to BookBrunch website editor Liz Thomson.

There would not be any big surprise to see the rights sold for as much as £100 million and experts feel that it would cause skyrocketing sales for Kindle, iPad and other e-book readers, revolutionizing electronic publishing.

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Google building giant electronic library

Alan — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:15:48 +0000

Classic literature and contemporary writings are only a couple of the millions of works translated by Google books library. The online book industry is immense and Google has some of the most impressive technology in the market. Many of these digitalized works are available to their bookstore users. Google’s presence in the industry is being felt more with their recent purchase of an eBook group.

Purchase dates are not exact but eBook Technologies released an official statement on their website that was confirmed by a Google representative. In order to deliver a more fulfilling reading experience on electronic reader, tablets and other devices was how the acquisition was described in the statement. eBook Technologies describe their focus is on smart reading devices that includes controlling content distribution and automatic publishing, but it is still undecided what benefit they give Google.

The company does not mention on their site how they do things, only great explanations as to what they do. But older archived editions give insight as to what Google has in mind from this acquisition. Both hardware and distribution technologies have been on the developing table for eBook and it is thought that Google is looking deeply into the digital medium and the benefits of the cross platform distribution tech for the same. Without have anything more that a quote from Google, all are waiting for the official details.

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The e-reader wars escalate

Alan — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:12:50 +0000

The e-reader wars are on, and that can only be good news for a growing number of readers who have made the adjustment from books-from-trees to books-on-screen. Amazon’s Kindle was the only word in e-books when it was introduced in 2007, but Barnes & Noble, the venerable booksellers, are in the running for top place on the e-reader list with the Nook.

At last glance the Nook had a slight edge on Kindle because of its lending library capability. Any e-book you buy can be loaned out to a friend for fourteen days, so that person doesn’t need to buy it, unless of course they want to keep it. The advantage here is that the book automatically returns to you after the two weeks, unlike the print version that you may never see again if your friend gets careless. The drawback is that while the friend has it, you can’t read it, but that’s pretty much the way it’s always been anyhow.

Kindle and Nook aren’t the only options, either. Sony and Apple are just two of the competitors vying for consumer approval and pounds.

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New Kindle that allows readers to preview books

Alan — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 01:05:53 +0000

Amazon has just announced a new sort of Kindle that allows consumers to preview books. While it is true that Amazon already has a preview option for some of the books they sell, this is a little different.

The new Kindle option will run on any browser and will invite a preview of e-books offered by Amazon. This Web Kindle will interface with social networks and allow people to recommend e-books to one another based on the review. If you are reading an e-book you enjoy, you can share samples through Facebook. You can even earn money if your e-book referral prompts someone to buy it.

When users read the review portion of the e-book they will, most certainly, be guided to Amazon’s regular website to buy it. Of course, once it is purchased it can be read any way the user chooses, whether it is on the Kindle device, cell phone or computer.

Books enrolled in the Web Kindle will have the first chapter available to readers for their review. This in itself is nothing new since many book publishers currently offer up first chapters on Amazon. The fact that Amazon is now engaging the Kindle brand through social networks is the new and interesting element to this developing story.

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Will the iPad replace the book

Alan — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:41:00 +0000

The Apple iPad is targeted towards the publishing industry, but will it aid publishers that are taking cover or help lead to a new revolution in the way society reads?

Given the fact that publishers are currently in the midst of an accelerated change in the way that readers respond to publications, how much of digital sales will the iPad be able to stimulate is the question that many people are waiting to find out.

While the iPad likely will not create a stunning turnaround in ebook sales, it is very likely that like the Kindle that came from Amazon a few years ago, it will help to jumpstart the new reading universe that is on its way.

For readers this should be great news given that it offers a more convenient reading format, and for writers it should be great news as well since it offers great new ways to get works out there, read, and more importantly paid.

However, for publishers the move towards the digital age is not so welcoming as they must move fast to define their role in new modern reading. With this in mind, they will have to act swiftly to use the best traditional strengths available to them such as offering editorial expertise, providing capital, and by marketing the works of writers.

There are two things however that publishers will need to learn, that an authors works need to stay available alongside each other both in digital and print and that fair return rates offered to authors need to be fair because if royalty rates are no longer enticing writers are going to ditch publishers altogether.

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New publication option for authors

Alan — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 05:06:21 +0000

Writer’s who are finding it hard to sell their novels to a publisher may be interested in the new Smashwords app available from the iBookstore from Apple. The simple app allows writers to sign into a deal with Apple that allows them to distribute their books free in e-book form in the Apple iBookstore.

Founder of Smashwords, Mark Coker, has already sent out notices to 4,000 authors in the network that details how to get their e-books ready for distribution in the Apple iBookstore.

The guideline when it comes to pricing e-books is that they all must end in $.99, but the option is there to also offer books for free. Apple also requires e-books to cost less than any printed versions of a book that may be out there floating around.

Smashwords currently has published more than 9,000 books by authors including some famous works by authors Mark Sullivan, Gary Wolfe, Anne Frasier, and John Buffalo Mailer. However, even non-famous authors may discover that the deal is useful for getting their creations out there in the digital world and into the hands of avid readers.

The main distribution audience of the e-books is the new Apple platform the iPad.

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French publisher lashes out at Google

Alan — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 05:00:25 +0000

French publishers plan to launch a massive second lawsuit today against Google for scanning their books into its digital online library.
Chief executive of French publisher Gallimard, told the AFP at the annual Paris book fair that the publisher plans to take a shot at Google, along with other French publishers Flammarion, Eyrolles, and Albin Michel at debating the copyright infringement taken by Google against them.

Gallimard continued to say that Google has been offering resolutions for months and yet has continued to illegally digitalize copies of the books.

Google France declined to comment on the case Wednesday.

In December a French court ruling was made against Google citing the company had committed copyright breaches of three different companies each owned under the La Martiniere group by either placing excerpts from books online or digitally uploading entire contents of books. The court order stipulated that Google pay the publishers 300,000 euros to the publishers in damages and that the company stop scanning French books without prior approval.

Google has since appealed the decision but since the court data US publishers have also challenged the company in a US court.
Digitilization of books has become entangled with preserving cultural and intellectual property in France over the last three months with French president Nicolas Sarkzy announcing a government plan to scan the all of France’s national treasures.

Sarkzy also pledged to protect the French heritage at a time when Google’s drive to digitalize everything may pose a threat to the country.

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E-books are cheap according to publishers

Alan — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:07:18 +0000

From the publisher’s point of view, consumers may be expecting too much (or too little) regarding the current and future price of books. While theoretically an e-book costs less to produce than a printed version of the same material, this is not necessarily the case.

According to a recent report in The New York Times, a breakdown of the relative costs involved in publishing a book in hardcopy as opposed to digital leaves less overall profit for the publisher, at least under current conditions. The example quoted shows the average cost to the consumer of a new hardcover best seller is about $26.00. Of that amount, about half goes to the publisher, but then there are additional costs such as cover design, copy editing and of course payment to the author. In this case the publisher winds up with just over $4.00, and there are still overhead costs like office space to be considered.

The new agreement between publishers and Apple’s iBookstore allots 30% of the sale price of an e-book to the hardware makers, leaving 70% for the publishers. From the gross profit, e-book publishers must pay to have the copy converted and typeset into digital form; marketing costs are also added in.

On the Amazon Kindle site, where hardcover best sellers are priced at $9.99, publishers are using the introduction of Apple’s iPad as leverage to raise their prices, and the competition in the bookselling market has become known in the industry as “the Amazon versus Apple E-book Wars.”

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Google in lawsuit to offer millions of books free online

Alan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:15:26 +0000

Google Inc. is planning to head to take the US Department of Justice to court in order to see if they can get access to the rights of millions of books without breaking copyright or antitrust laws.

Google filed suit on Thursday defending a settlement they made for $125m with US publishers and authors a little over a year ago. According to Google, the settlement allows them to publish books without breaking the law.

According to Google, every suggestion from the US Justice Department has been followed expect for one. Among the contentions within the filing is a rebuttal from the Justice Department that the settlement will undermine copyright law and reduce the competition in the book market.

Google’s corporate rivals, the Open Book Alliance, rejected the arguments made by Google stating that even though the attorneys for Google have spun the truth of the settlement, the company will still allow Google exclusive access to books that it has scanned without permission.

In response Google has revised its plan in the hopes of persuading the US District Judge Denny Chin that the opponents of the settlement are wrong. Lawyers from the popular online company stated that copyright law is meant to promotion distribution and creation of works and that the settlement will help forward this purpose as much as any other distribute method in the history of copyright.

The decision to take on the US Justice Department is a big risk for Google given that it will raise the interest of antitrust regulators in Google and its advertising system, which is responsible for most of the revenue the company earns.

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