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https://theconversation.com/the-us-government-is-trying-to-stop-the-merger-of-two-of-the-worlds-biggest-publishers-but-will-it-help-authors-188364>
"When Allen Lane set out to make cheap paperbacks for commuters in the 1930s,
no one imagined he was building what would become the biggest publishing house
we’ve ever seen.
The company he founded became Penguin Books, which in turn became Penguin
Random House, following a merger in 2013. Now, in a deal first announced in
November 2020, Bertelsmann, the parent company of Penguin Random House, wants
to buy another publishing behemoth, Simon & Schuster.
The proposed merger has caught the eye of the Biden administration. The US
Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit, arguing that the merger
will drive down author advances, result in fewer books being published, and
provide less variety for consumers.
The court case, which began on August 1, is set to continue over three weeks.
It has featured evidence from bestselling author Stephen King, who testified in
support of the Department of Justice.
The publishers and their attorneys argue the deal will create “efficiencies”
that will lead to “better offers to more authors”.
The proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster is the latest in the long history
of mergers and acquisitions in what has been described in the New York Times as
“increasingly a winner-take-all business in which the largest companies compete
for brand-name authors and guaranteed best-sellers”.
If allowed to take place, the merger of Penguin Random House and Simon &
Schuster will reduce the number of big US publishers from five to four. It
raises the question of how big is too big."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
