Amazon pricing dispute expands from books to films, as it drops pre-orders for The Lego Movie
New row with Warner Bros mirrors dispute with publishers Hachette
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Amazon’s strong-arm tactics over pricing have expanded from books to films with the online retailer now refusing to serve pre-orders for many Warner Bros’ titles including The Lego Movie and 300: Rise of an Empire.
The move comes as Hachette (one of the ‘big five’ book publishers) goes public over its dispute with the company. Amazon has refused to stock some Hachette titles and has delayed shipping on others in order to bring down the price of e-books.
Hachette authors from J.K Rowling to Stephen Colbert have condemned the online retailers’ decision, with thriller writer James Patterson declaring: “There is a war going on between Amazon and book publishers.”
Although the details of the dispute with Warner Bros are not clear, searching for The Lego Movie on amazon.com brings up a digital copy of the film from Amazon’s video-on-demand service first while the physical DVD is unavailable for pre-order.
The dispute has apparently not affected Amazon’s UK operation with searches on amazon.co.uk for Warner Bros’ DVDs all showing options for pre-order.
In regards to the Hachette dispute Amazon has said that it is only negotiating “on behalf of customers” in order to find the best prices, but publishers have said that the company’s influence in the industry (especially in the e-book market) is hurting both book-sellers and authors.
In the film market however Amazon has less control, with competitors from iTunes to Netflix offering alternative distribution methods. In both cases, Hachette and Warner Bros will be hoping the popularity of their products wins out against Amazon's coercion.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments