Monday, June 09, 2008


From Scotland's Sunday Herald:

Amazon accused of squeezing publisher
Hachette says online giant is making unfair demandsBy Edd McCracken, Arts Correspondent


A MAJOR battle has erupted between Amazon and the UK's biggest publisher in the most public fallout yet between the powerful online retailer and the book world.
Amazon has removed several key Hachette Livre UK titles from sale on its British website in an effort to pressurise the publisher to give it a greater percentage of its profits, according to Hachette's group chief executive.
Tim Hely Hutchinson delivered a scathing attack on the conduct of Amazon.co.uk in an email sent to all the publisher's authors in which he accused the website of "effectively creating a breach of trust between Amazon and its customers".
High-profile authors and titles such as James Patterson's The 6th Target, Kate Mosse's Labyrinth and new hardbacks by Stephen King and Dan Cruickshank all feature on Amazon.co.uk without the vital buy new' option.
Amazon already receives on average more than 50% of the recommended retail price of Hachette Livre UK's books, said Hutchinson.
"Despite these advantageous terms, Amazon seems each year to go from one publisher to another making increasing demands in order to achieve richer terms at our expense and sometimes at yours," he wrote.

The full story from the Sunday Herald...........

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