Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over Audiobook Monopoly Allegations

A lawsuit filed by independent authors claims that Amazon is monopolizing the audiobooks space. Amazon's attempt to dismiss the case was rejected by U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochonto, allowing the class action proposed by author Christine DeMaio (CD Reiss) to proceed. The case questions Amazon's practice of charging high fees to authors who do not agree to exclusive distribution of their audiobooks.

The core issue is that Amazon charges higher fees to writers who opt out of the exclusive distributor agreement. This move reduces potential earnings from 40% to 25%, which is seen as anti-competitive. Authors are penalized financially for not granting exclusive distribution rights to Audible for 90 days.

If the lawsuit succeeds, Amazon may have to pay $5 million to be distributed among the participating authors. However, the earnings from exclusive deals may outweigh this settlement, potentially resulting in a minor punishment that does not deter future anti-competitive actions.

The case moving forward indicates that Judge Jennifer Rochonto may not be satisfied with Amazon's reasons for charging higher distribution fees to authors who choose non-exclusivity. With Audible already using AI for cheaper audiobook creation, it raises questions about whether publishing fees will change regardless of exclusivity deals. Despite the decreasing costs of creating audiobooks, it is uncertain if audiobook prices will reflect this change, similar to the increasing e-book prices despite lower production costs.

According to the source: Android Police.