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Hachette UK c.e.o. Tim Hely Hutchinson has assured authors that the publisher is continuing with its agency model arrangements, despite the agreement made between US sister company Hachette Book Group and the US Department of Justice.
In a note sent to staff and authors, he clarified: "As I have communicated to many of you recently, our group has been trying to persuade competition authorities on both sides of the Atlantic of the merits of the pro-diversity agency model for e-book pricing. Nothing new has been decided outside the USA, so Hachette UK's agency model arrangements continue as they are."
US sister company Hachette Book Group reached agreement with the US Department of Justice to a settlement including "a modified form of the present agency model to become effective after a 'cooling off' period of two years during which the agents will be granted a limited ability to discount," Hely Hutchinson said.
Joaquin Almunia, vice president of the commission in charge of competition policy within the European Commission, has stated that Apple and four publishers, including Hachette Livre, are engaged in "fruitful discussions" with the commission to "reach an early resolution of the case".