CHINA TOPIX

05/05/2024 12:33:54 pm

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Amazon and Hatchette End Dispute

Amazon and Hachette have finally made peace with each other.

The two companies announced that they have resolved their differences, entering a multiyear agreement ending a publishing dispute that already ballooned into a major cultural and business conflict, New York Times reports.

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However, neither Amazon nor Hachette gave any details of the deal, although it was revealed that both parties are happy with the compromise.

Hachette, the world's fourth largest publisher, succeeded in getting Amazon to agree that it should set the prices for its e-books, a major contention in the fight.

"This is great news for writers," Michael Pietsch, Hachette's CEO, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Amazon was also happy with the deal because it has "financial incentives" for Hatchette that will result in lower prices, Amazon executive David Naggar said.

Amazon's deal with Hachette was patterned with the one it entered with Simon & Schuster.

Amazon's conflict with Hachette, seen as a negotiating standoff between supplier and retailer, has turned out a highly public tug-of-war. New York Times notes that it was actually a "struggle between the future and the past... the masses and the elite, technologists and traditionalists, predators and prey."

Amazon was accused of wanting to earn more money on Hachette's e-book revenue, while wanting to sell these ebooks at a much lower price. Hachette supporters, meanwhile, saw this as a threat to undermine the publisher's existence.

Amazon, wanting to upped its stake in the public battle, discouraged its patrons from purchasing Hachette books.

The online retailer's move drew criticisms from authors and members of the literary community. Douglas Preston, a novelist whose thrillers are published by Hachette, organized Authors United, a group of 1,500 writers and agents to fight Amazon.

Preston was relieved after hearing that Amazon and Hachette finally reached an agreement.

However, Authors United, together with the Authors Guild, is preparing a petition urging the Justice Department to investigate Amazon over monopoly and violating the antitrust law.

Indeed, the two companies may have buried the hatchet, but the book industry has yet to see if it is a mere skirmish to a cultural and business war that's bound to reach epic proportions.

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