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Small Publishers Association of North America
July 7, 2008
Hello Everyone,
Recently, the SPAN Board voted to support the class action
antitrust lawsuit, BookLocker.com, Inc. vs. Amazon.com, Inc.
As most of you know, in late March, the news broke that
Amazon had begun a new policy requiring print on demand
(POD) publishers using Amazon’s distribution services to print their books using Amazon’s subsidiary BookSurge.
In April, SPAN announced it opposed the policy and I wrote a
letter to Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos. I said, in short, the new
policy was not in the best interest of either Amazon or SPAN
members. Despite public outcry, Amazon has stuck to its new POD policy. This led BookLocker.com, Inc., a POD publisher, to initiate a class action antitrust lawsuit challenging the legality of the policy.
The lawsuit says 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 or service in order to have access to another distinct product or service.
To help determine the validity of the case, I read the legal
Complaint submitted to U.S. District Court and conducted
additional research. I was quickly convinced that, based
on my reading, BookLocker has a reasonable antitrust
case against Amazon. Therefore, it seemed clear that
SPAN’s next step should be to support the lawsuit.
The Amazon/BookSurge Antitrust Lawsuit Campaign
What does supporting the lawsuit mean? SPAN’s goal is
to initiate the Amazon/BookSurge Antitrust Lawsuit
Campaign to generate public pressure to compel Amazon
to reverse its policy. Our plan is to get as many authors,
publishers, and organizations as possible to let Amazon
know they support the lawsuit and object to the new policy.
Our objective is to get 10,000 signatures on the campaign
petition and 100 writer’s and publisher’s organizations to
join the campaign.
The Antitrust Lawsuit
According to the complaint, BookLocker is seeking to
represent a class of “all POD publishers and publishing
companies in the United States who either had books
listed for sale in the [Amazon] Bookstore, or who had or
have an application to have books listed for sale in the
[Amazon] Bookstore, at any time from February 10, 2008
through the conclusion of trial of this matter.”
Should the judge approve this class definition, many SPAN
members likely will be members of the class (although they
will have the opportunity to opt-out if they so choose).
However, it is important to note that SPAN itself is not a
member of the “class” and is not a party to the lawsuit.
What can you do to help? Here are five steps that will let Amazon know that publishers and writers want a change:
1. Sign the Petition -We have initiated an online petition
individuals and organizations can sign indicating they
support the lawsuit. The petition will be sent to Jeff Bezos
and the Amazon Board.
You can sign the petition by clicking here:
2. Write Letters -We have written to Amazon again and
encourage everyone to do so. Let them know you support
the lawsuit and you want them to reverse this new policy.
Send your letter to Jeff Bezos at Amazon
jeff @ amazon.com .
Send us copies of your letters to
classaction @ spannet.org .
3. Spread the Word -Our power comes from you
telling people about this campaign. It is just that simple.
Tell your friends and contacts through e-mail, newsletters,
blogs, social media sites, etc.
Advertise the link for:
Campaign home page
Petition
4. Request the Support of Your Organizations -SPAN is
compiling a list of writer and publisher organizations that
also support the lawsuit. You can help us add to this list
by contacting organizations you belong to and encouraging
them to support the lawsuit. Organizations can let SPAN
know of your support by contacting kaye @ spannet.org.
5. Contact the Media -We have sent a news release
announcing SPAN’s support of the lawsuit. If you have
media contacts, send them the news release.
Click here for a copy of the news release:
Note: Feel free to use the news release, Scott Flora’s
letters and articles, and Web site copy to spread the word.
Join this Campaign
I believe Amazon is a good company that has done many
beneficial things for independent publishers over the years.
SPAN is not calling for a boycott of Amazon. We are
supporting the class action lawsuit against Amazon and
asking others to also lend their support in order to persuade
Amazon to reverse its policy of requiring publishers using its
POD distribution services to print with BookSurge.
I am asking you to join SPAN in supporting the lawsuit by
signing the petition, writing Amazon, contacting the media,
and telling your colleagues.
If we work together, we can make a difference.
Thanks,
Scott Flora
SPAN Executive Director
Small Publishers Association
SPAN is a nonprofit professional trade
association dedicated to enhancing the image and profits
of authors and independent presses in the U.S. and
Canada. You’ll find SPAN info &a membership
Tags: anti-trust, independent publishers, law suit, POD printing, small publishers, SPAN
August 3, 2008 at 5:37 pm |
Thank you