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Five of the six parties under investigation by the European Commission over e-book prices—Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre, Holtzbrinck and Apple—are thought to be close to finalising an agreement with the EC. Penguin is also being investigated, but has not entered into discussions over a deal.
In the US, the period during which public comment is accepted on the proposed final settlement between the Department of Justice and the settling publishers ended on Monday (25th June).
If the settlement is ratified, there will be a two-year "cooling-off" period from the agency model agreements currently being employed for e-books. The trial date for the DoJ's lawsuit against Apple, Macmillan and Penguin, which deny collusion and price-fixing, has been set for 3rd June 2013.
At the Booksellers Association's a.g.m. this month, BA c.e.o. Tim Godfray told booksellers that the DoJ's decision to investigate publishers for collusion had influenced their willingness to take part in cross-industry discussions.
"The DoJ decision in the US is already having an effect in the way that the BA and the Publishers Association relate to their members," Godfray said. "It is going to be difficult for us to have discussions with publishers over the next few years about important matters because they are going to be reluctant to get together. It is going to have to be done on an individual basis."