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ARTICLE · 01 MAY 2014

The Ebooks Saga: Kobo’s Challenge Explained

Affleck Greene McMurtry LLP
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Ebook retailer Kobo is challenging a settlement entered into by the Competition Bureau with ebook publishers.

CanadaAntitrust/Competition Law
W. Michael G. Osborne
W. Michael G. Osborne
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Ebook retailer Kobo is challenging a settlement entered into by the Competition Bureau with ebook publishers. The settlement has been stayed pending this challenge. Kobo's challenge may have major implications for competition law enforcement in Canada. Kobo's case also highlights a little-known area of risk that Canadian businesses face.

Canadians have taken to ebooks and ebook readers. They have many advantages, such as portability and the ability to buy and immediately download new books from nearly anywhere, at any time. But ebook customers cannot have failed to notice that ebooks are not much cheaper paperback books or sometimes even harcover books, even though the ebooks cost less to produce and distribute than physical books.

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