News for POD Publishers and Those Wanting to Self-Publish: Amazon/BookSurge Issues Still in Court
Has anyone been wondering what ever happened with the Amazon/Booksurge issue? Remember, Amazon wanted all Print-on-Demand (POD) publishers to use its subsidiary, BookSurge, to print their books or else...or else it would turn off the "buy" buttons for those books on Amazon.com? And remember, BookLocker filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon? Well, the saga continues...and that's actually good news for those of us wanting to self-publish books using POD technology--and sell our books on Amazon.com.
Here's the latest news via a story published today in Publishers Weekly:
Court Denies Amazon's Motion to Dismiss BookLocker Antitrust LawsuitIndependent POD publisher can proceed with its caseBy Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 8/27/2009 7:52:00 AM
Independent print-on-demand publisher and bookseller BookLocker said yesterday that a court has denied Amazon’s motion to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit that BookLocker filed against Amazon, meaning that BookLocker can proceed with its case. The case stems from Amazon’s decision to make POD publishers use its BookSurge subsidiary to manufacture POD titles if they want to sell their titles on Amazon directly (publishers that don’t use BookSurge will have their buy button removed).
Chief U.S. District Judge John Woodcock Jr.’s 26-page order denied Amazon’s motion to dismiss, so the case may proceed. In a post on his Web site, Richard Hoy of BookLocker wrote, “Among other steps, we anticipate beginning discovery (where we are able to request documents from Amazon) shortly. Although there is still a long way to go, surviving the motion to dismiss is an important first step.”
The entire order is available here.
Remember....Write Nonfiction in November is fast approaching. This blog is part of Write Nonfiiction in November. You can visit the blog at its home base: www.writenonfictioninnovember.wordpress.com.
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Huntington W. Sharp says:
Thanks for the update
Nina, this is important news for the Red Room community. We're looking forward to both the nonfiction and fiction writing extravaganzas in November.
Huntington Sharp, Red Room
Nina Amir says:
You're Welcome
I posted the info for just that reason...it is so important, and many people have no inkling about what is going on in the POD world. Thanks for your support!
Ellen R. Sheeley says:
A fund-raising anthology to
A fund-raising anthology to which I contributed was caught up in this last year. The editor published it on Lulu and wanted to sell it on Amazon, and it was a no go, drastically reducing our fund-raising results.
I see what Amazon is trying to do, but I don't think it should be legal.
Nina Amir says:
Legal or Not?
That's really the issue: Is it legal? BookLocker, or the Hoys, say, "No." I agree that it seems illegal to monopolize the POD market. Why should Amazon be allowed to dictate where people print/publish their books?
I suppose the company has a right decide what books are sold on its site, but then the site is not offering access to ALL books. It's only offering access to books published by BookSurge. In fact, many big traditional publishers now print using POD technology as well. What happens with their books? Are their "buy" buttons also turned off?
In any case, I agree. It doesn't seem legal, and I'm glad BookLocker's law suit is going through.