Comments on: Senator Schumer in WSJ: DOJ ebooks suit could “wipe out the publishing industry as we know it”

By: John F. Harnish

John F. Harnish — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 22:40:55 +0000

“’…[but] could wipe out the publishing industry as we know it, making it much harder for young authors to get published,’ New York Senator Charles Schumer writes in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.”

The huge corporate style publishers made it much harder for aspiring authors to publish early in the 21st century when they attempted to squash Print-On-Demand publishers using digital technology to print books. Bookstores were advised not to stock books published by these evolving digital publishers if they wanted to continue to receive sweetheart deals and promotional dollars from the mainstream houses. Book reviewers with major newspapers and trade publications dependent on advertising dollars were discouraged from writing reviewers on books produced by these upstart publishers.

The big publishers, the chains, and the reviewers created an effective Catch-22 to limit access to the marketplace to all but the selected few. The bookstore chains refused to stock books that weren’t reviewed in the media, and reviewers refused to review books that weren’t available for sale in the chain stores. The mainstream publishers benefitted from having their titles automatically reviewed and stocked on the shelves of the bookstore chains.

The increasing popularity of affordable ebooks has leveled the playing field in favor of many new authors—they don’t need a publisher taking a big piece of the profits from downloads sold nor do they need to jump through hoops to try to get distribution through the dwindling number of brick and mortar bookstores.

By: wygit

wygit — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:02:35 +0000

Not for ebooks. Macmillan won’t even allow their ebooks in libraries, and Random House charges triple the list rate to libraries, and Harper Collins is doing its silly “26 checkouts and the book dies” thing.
The publishers are fighting a losing battle.

By: David Thomas

David Thomas — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 21:47:36 +0000

Anti-competitive collusion is debatable here ….the key pieces of evidence — and there are only two — include a dinner that occurred nearly two years prior to the release of the iPad in March of 2010. Publishing execs are smart, but they clearly lack a crystal ball.

By: David Thomas

David Thomas — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 21:43:02 +0000

Publishers have been competing with “free” for a long time…the “free” competition is the public library system.

By: Byron M. G. Sanford, Esq.

Byron M. G. Sanford, Esq. — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:17:08 +0000

Perhaps I’m being dense, but can someone explain to me how permitting collusive pricing practices is (a) not prohibit behavior under anti-trust laws, and (b) is likely to “create” a monopoly on the part of Amazon?

I’m not really a fan of Amazon (as a publishing house), but I’m not sure I think that “fighting fire with fire” is the right approach here. If Amazon is engages in monopolistic behavior, they should get the snot smacked out of them. But giving other companies a pass for anti-competitive behavior just doesn’t seem like the right answer.

By: Nohopeorchange

Nohopeorchange — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:05:48 +0000

DOJ has no time to sue sanctuary cities for violating Federal Immigration law. last month they sued Arizona claiming only the Federl government could enforce or ignore immigration law. Last week DC passed an ordinance ordering DC police to
not help ICE with secure communities. Not a peep from the AG.

How many top executives on Wall Street have been indicted for the CDO’s and Housing Bubble?

Misplaced priorities.

By: Joe A

Joe A — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:16:18 +0000

One would think this was a veiled attempt to make light of the inept abilities of the current President and his cabinet.

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:31:10 +0000

“Disrupted industries need to either adapt or die.”

In general I agree with you, but in this case doesn’t the DOJ’s lawsuit turn on a different issue?

By: wygit

wygit — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:27:00 +0000

The publishing industry “as we know it” is going to be wiped out, (or changed drastically) with or without the suit.
The big houses were pretty much mandatory for creation, marketing and distribution of books, and now they’re not.
There are lots of smaller houses springing up that are offering deals for both the authors and readers, and since ebooks don’t require printing, warehousing, trucking, stores, the little guys can do everything the big houses can, without the umpteen layers of overpriced management.
It’s also moving from a model where copying was almost impossible to one where it’s trivial, and just like the music industry had to change for mp3′s, publishers are going to have to learn to compete with ‘free’.
(And despite what the music industry reports, artists are doing quite well.)

By: kayarkay

kayarkay — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:14:55 +0000

BongBong:
Seems like you are confused about what Sen. Schumer is saying.
He too agrees with you (and me) and thinks that the DOJ is doing the wrong thing.