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FOR MORE INFORMATION
ON THIS TOPIC:
Amazon
files Motion to Dismiss; BookLocker responds, July 31, 2008. Read both legal
documents here.
Amazon’s public statement about its new position. (March 31, 2008)
Angela Hoy/BookLocker Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Amazon.com (May 19,
2008). "Amazon has
offered only one alternative to publishers—its 'Advantage
Program,' says Hoy. "However, they did not divulge in their public statement that the terms
of the Advantage Program are even worse than their printing contract. The
Advantage Program requires POD publishers to give Amazon 55% of the list
price, pay them $29.95/year, and pay the shipping costs for books going to
Amazon."
Angela Hoy’s initial comments on her Writers Weekly website. (Her company,
BookLocker.com Inc. has 1200 books in print—both hers and her authors.)
This page on BookLocker will keep you up to date on what’s happening with the
lawsuit. Learn the position of various POD publishers. Subscribe to
Hoy's ezine for more information.
Very informative radio interview with Angela Hoy.
Copyright © 2000-2008
by Barbara Brabec
All Rights Reserved
Barbara Brabec's World
BarbaraBrabec.com
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Amazon Throws its Weight Around,
Book Publishers Push Back
SPAN rallies independent publishers
to support lawsuit against business giant.
Colorado Springs, CO, July 7, 2008 — The Small Publishers Association of North
America (SPAN), a national trade association dedicated to advancing the
interests of independent publishers, launched a campaign to generate support for
the class action lawsuit Booklocker.com, Inc. vs. Amazon.com, Inc. The SPAN
board recently voted to publicly support the lawsuit.
BookLocker.com, Inc., initiated the class action antitrust lawsuit to challenge
the legality of Amazon’s new policy requiring print on demand (POD) publishers
using the company’s distribution services to print their books using Amazon’s
subsidiary BookSurge. The lawsuit states that Amazon is illegally tying the
BookSurge printing to Amazon’s distribution services. According to antitrust
law, companies generally cannot require a customer to buy one product in order
to have access to another distinct product.
Through its campaign, SPAN aims to generate significant public pressure to
compel Amazon to reverse its new policy. The campaign is built on two
objectives:
 To collect 10,000 signatures on a petition that will be sent to Jeff Bezos, CEO
of Amazon;
 To unite 100+ writer and publisher organizations in opposing the policy and
supporting the lawsuit .
“From the public outcry over the announcement of Amazon’s new POD policy, we
have an army of enthusiastic writers and publishers ready for the next step in
getting Amazon to change its policy,” said SPAN Executive Director, Scott Flora.
“This campaign is the next step.”
SPAN’s campaign is creating support in five primary ways: uniting voices through
the petition; writing letters to Amazon; recruiting other organizations;
generating press coverage; and passing the word along friends and colleagues.
___________
SPAN is a nonprofit trade association of independent book
publishers with more than 1,000 members. The association provides support to
authors and independent book publishers through industry news, business
benefits, education, and marketing opportunities.
For more information about the SPAN campaign and the lawsuit against Amazon
visit
Spannet.org.
To schedule an interview with Scott Flora, please contact Lisa Gilman at
719-475-1726 or lisa @ spannet.org.
See also "How the
Amazon/BookSurge Program Works," and how disadvantageous its pricing and
publishing policies are to authors who have self-published, or are planning
to do so.
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