European Commission welcomes end to Amazon, Apple exclusive audiobook deal News
European Commission welcomes end to Amazon, Apple exclusive audiobook deal

[JURIST] The European Commission (EC) [official website] on Thursday welcomed an agreement [press release] between Amazon and Apple [corporate websites] to eliminate their exclusivity obligations with respect to the supply and distribution of audiobooks. These exclusivity rights required Apple to source only from Amazon’s audible unit and prevented Amazon from distributing any music platform other than Apple’s iTunes store. Under this agreement to eliminate exclusivity, Amazon can now supply its downloadable audiobooks to other third party platforms, Apple can source audiobooks from alternative suppliers, and publishers and content aggregators can make distribution deals directly with Apple. The EC stated: “The removal of these exclusivity obligations will allow for further competition in a fast growing and innovative market and allow European consumers broader access to downloadable audiobooks.” Germany’s Bundeskartellamt [press releases] also welcomed the agreement.

Many corporations with a worldwide reach have come under fire recently for anti-trust issues. In January the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that plaintiffs may sue Apple [JURIST report] for violating antitrust regulations by forcing users to purchase apps exclusively through their app store. The EU in November made allegations [JURIST report] that Google had abused its market dominance of its Android mobile phone operating system. In August the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), South Korea’s antitrust regulator, confirmed that the country is investigating [JURIST report] whether Google violated the country’s antitrust laws.

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