Overview[]
E-books[]
The agency model is a pricing model whereby book publishers set the price of the e-books, and distributors, like Amazon or Apple, get a fee from the publishers on every book sold. Distributors allegedly do not own the e-books and therefore do not have the right to set prices.
On April 11, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit[1] against Apple and five[2] of the Big Six publishing houses in the United States. The suit alleges that Apple and the named publishers colluded to artificially increase the price of e-books by letting publishers set the prices. In early September 2012, a federal judge has approved the U.S. Justice Department's settlement with three of electronic book publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster). Under the settlement they agreed to abandon the agency model.
A number of State Attorney Generals filed similar suits. Those were settled under similar terms. The three publishers agreed to pay $69 million as part of the settlement.
Numerous class action suits have also been filed by consumers.
Similar lawsuits were filed in Europe under EU competition laws.