On 2 March 2011, the European Commission (the 'Commission') announced that it has conducted site visits at the premises of a number of publishers active in e-books. The visits were unannounced and took place in a number of Member States, with the Commission officials being accompanied by their counterparts from the relevant national competition authorities. The Commission has suspicions that the practices of certain publishers in relation to e-books may be in breach of EU competition law.
The Commission's actions follow the announcement of an investigation in the UK by the Office of Fair Trading ('OFT') as to whether arrangements put in place between certain publishers and retailers for the sale of e-books are compatible with competition law. While neither the Commission nor the OFT has commented upon the precise nature of the breach or released the identities of the targeted publishers, one publisher, Penguin, has confirmed that it was subject to the OFT's initial investigation. As regards the Commission's investigation, French publishers would appear to be a focal point.
The investigations follow a trend among certain publishers to adopt an agency relationship with retailers, under which publishers set the retail price of e-books.
The OFT has stated that it is fully aware of the Commission's investigation and that both regulators are co-operating very closely within the framework of the European Competition Network to avoid any duplication between the two investigations.
Both investigations are at a preliminary stage.
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