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Update:
- Consumers urged a New York federal judge not to send Amazon to the 2nd Circuit following his decision to allow claims that Amazon monopolized the e-book market to proceed.
- Amazon urged U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods to transfer the Amazon e-book case to the appeals court so it could decide whether consumers have antitrust standing and if Wood appropriately viewed the e-book market.
- In response, consumers argue the court never ruled they lacked antitrust standing and that Amazon already conceded they sufficiently alleged it engages in anticompetitive conduct.
- Judge Woods, when declining to dismiss the claims, determined the court must assume as true allegations the publishers’ contracts with Amazon restricted their ability to sell with other retailers.
- Consumers claim Amazon colluded with five of the biggest book publishers in the United States to create price restraints on e-books that forced consumers to pay more for them outside Amazon.
Amazon e-book monopoly class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Amazon asked a federal judge to toss a class action lawsuit filed against the company.
- Why: A proposed class of consumers allege Amazon colluded with five of the country’s biggest book publishers to create a monopoly in the e-book market.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.
(Sept. 22, 2021)
Amazon committed antitrust violations by colluding with five of the country’s largest book publishers to corner the e-book market, a new Amazon e-book class action lawsuit alleges.
A proposed class of consumers claim Amazon, along with HarperCollins Publishers, Hachette Book Group, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster and MacMillan created price restraints that forced consumers to pay more if they didn’t purchase ebooks from Amazon.
The online retailer and the five publishers have asked a federal judge in New York to throw out the proposed Amazon e-book class action lawsuit, calling it “an illogical conspiracy,” according to a motion to dismiss filed Sept. 17.
“[The] plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint contains no factual allegations that credibly explain why defendants would enter into such a conspiracy, let alone demonstrate that they carried it out,” Amazon said in the motion.
The plaintiffs claim the company used clauses and provisions — such as not allowing publishers to charge more for their e-books on Amazon than other platforms — to keep control of the distribution of books and prevent publishers from partnering with other companies.
The company claims the Amazon e-book class action allegations make no sense because it would not be in the publisher’s best interest to create a monopolist retailer with whom they would then have to deal.
The publishers claim all they may have done, at worst, is enter into similar contracts with Amazon, Law360 reports.
Amazon made ‘anti-competitive deals’ on e-books with publishers, class action claims
The class action lawsuit came after Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced he intended to look into whether Amazon had made any anticompetitive deals with publishers.
A consumer filed a separate class action lawsuit against the company this month, alleging the company unlawfully charges sales tax on digital items.
Do you think Amazon has created a monopoly with the five big book publishers? Let us know in the comments!
The proposed class is represented by Steve W. Berman and Barbara A. Mahoney of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Joseph M. Vanek, Paul E. Slater and Matthew T. Slater of Sperling & Slater PC.
The Amazon e-book monopoly class action lawsuit is Fremgen, et al. v. Amazon.com Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-00351, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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