Where does agency pricing go from here?

Posted onLeave a comment

The Associated Press has reported that the U.S. Justice Department and 15 states filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Apple Inc. and Holtzbrinck Publishers, doing business as Macmillan, and The Penguin Publishing Co. Ltd., doing business as Penguin Group. The federal government reached a settlement with three of the publishers, Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Shuster, but Apple and the other two Big 5 publishers refused to settle. What is most interesting about this is that, as the article states: According to court papers, the settlement agreement reached with three publishers Read More …

Lawsuit and investigations challenge agency pricing

Posted onLeave a comment

In The Global Indie Author I discuss the history of agency pricing and conclude that in the U.S. a legal challenge to agency pricing is inevitable; it is already under investigation in the UK. Critics maligned this assumption, arguing that what happens in Europe has no bearing on the U.S. This ignores the mechanics of a global economy, and it also ignores how Apple have attempted to circumvent an individual country’s sovereignty to dictate its consumer laws: Apple’s contract forces price parity across international jurisdictions. It comes as no surprise Read More …