March 30, 2021, 1:31pm
This past Thursday, Seattle law firm Hagens Berman filed a proposed class-action lawsuit on behalf of Illinois bookseller Bookends & Beginnings, alleging Amazon colluded to fix prices on print books.
The suit claims that Amazon’s restrictive contracts with the “Big Five” publishers have made it impossible for book retailers to beat Amazon on price, harming retailers’ sales. The contracts prohibit the publishers from selling books to other retailers for less than they offer Amazon.
Nina Barrett, owner of Bookends & Beginnings, said in a statement that Amazon’s growth has threatened her business. “I’ve watched Amazon grow into the juggernaut it’s become,” said Barrett. “I’ve experienced firsthand the devastation to publishing, bookselling, and to local brick-and-mortar shopping that’s resulted.”
Earlier this year, Hagens Berman filed a class-action lawsuit against Amazon accusing Amazon of artificially inflating the retail price of e-books through anticompetitive agreements with the “Big Five.”
[via The Seattle Times]