Amazon, publishers face class action suit over ebook pricing

In the US, a law firm has filed a class action suit against Amazon for allegedly colluding with Big Five publishers for anti-competitive behaviour in the ebook market, reports Publishers Weekly.

Hagens Berman, the law firm that successfully sued Apple and major publishers for colluding to fix ebook prices in 2011, filed the suit against Amazon in the Southern District of New York on 14 January.

While the suit names only Amazon as defendant, it alleges the Big Five publishers were ‘co-conspirators’ in a scheme to keep ebook prices artificially high. Hagens Berman is seeking reimbursement for consumers who purchased ebooks through Amazon’s competitors, among other requests to stop Amazon and the publishers from ‘enforcing anti-competitive price restraints’.

Category: International news