E-book price fixing trial set for 2013: Apple, Macmillan and Penguin prepare for courtroom brawl

By Sean Buckley posted Jun 22nd 2012 9:55PM

The Justice Department meant business when it accused Apple and five other publishers of price-rigging e-books, and are officially taking Cupertino and two publishers to court. In a hearing on Friday, Judge Denise Cote set a bench trial for June 3, 2012, putting Apple, Macmillan and Penguin Group on the defense. The government's allegations focus largely on agency pricing, which sees booksellers taking a 30 percent cut of each sale in lieu of buying the books at wholesale and setting their own prices. Apple and Macmillan have already denied the Justice Department's claims, of course -- but that wasn't on the stand, was it?

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Penguin slinks back into e-book lending for New York City libraries, with a possible catch

By Jon Fingas posted Jun 22nd 2012 4:11AM

You might say Penguin has had a rocky relationship with libraries. That looks to be on the tentative mend, as the publisher and 3M have together cut deals with the Brooklyn Public Library and New York Public Library to bring Penguin's e-book catalog back as part of a test program. Under the terms of the one-year project, the libraries will pay retail-level prices once a year to keep any given e-book available, no matter how many times it's virtually borrowed by residents in the boroughs. The book publisher is taking a page from its delay-happy movie industry friends when it comes to new releases, though: fresh titles won't show up at the library until they're six months out from first sale. You won't be reading the latest Clive Cussler novel right away, then, and 3M's lack of relevant formatting means no Kindle borrowing just yet. Even so, it's good to know that we'll soon have no trouble borrowing Penguin's edition of The Mayor of Casterbridge without having to hop on the subway first.

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