Press Release: Antitrust: Commission accepts legally binding commitments from Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, Hachette, Holtzbrinck and Apple for sale of e-books

Author (Corporate)
Series Title
Series Details IP/12/1367 (13.12.12)
Publication Date 13/12/2012
Content Type

The European Commission has adopted a decision that renders legally binding commitments offered by Apple and four international publishers - Simon & Schuster (CBS Corp., USA), Harper Collins (News Corp., USA), Hachette Livre (Lagardère Publishing, France), Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck (Germany; owner of inter alia Macmillan). The Commission had concerns that these companies may have contrived to limit retail price competition for e-books in the European Economic Area (EEA), in breach of EU antitrust rules.

To address these concerns, the companies offered in particular to terminate on-going agency agreements and to exclude certain clauses in their agency agreements during the next five years. The publishers have also offered to give retailers freedom to discount e-books, subject to certain conditions, during a two-year period. After a market test, the Commission is satisfied that the final commitments remedy the identified competition concerns it had identified.

Source Link Link to Main Source http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-1367_en.htm
Related Links
ESO: Background Information: Press Release: Antitrust: Commission market tests commitments proposed by Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, Hachette, Holtzbrinck and Apple for the sale of e-books http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-antitrust-commission-market-tests-commitments-proposed-by-simon-schuster-harper-collins-hachette-holtzbrinck-and-apple-for-the-sale-of-e-books/
BBC News, 13.12.12: E-books: European Commission ends probe http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20713446
European Commission: Memo/12/983: Antitrust: Commission accepts legally binding commitments from Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, Hachette, Holtzbrinck and Apple for sale of e-books http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-12-983_en.htm
European Commission: Speech/12/955: Joaquin Almunia: Statement on commitments from Apple and four publishing groups for sale of e-books http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-12-955_en.htm

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