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Simon & Schuster

Controversies

Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.

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  1. 2021

    US sues to block Penguin Random House–Simon & Schuster deal

    Lawsuit filed

    The US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit to block Penguin Random House's proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster. The complaint alleged that the deal would reduce competition in acquiring publishing rights to anticipated top-selling books.

    Company response

    • Denial — Penguin Random House

      In a statement, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster stated that they would fight the lawsuit

    Source excerpt

    • An antitrust lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court warns that such an acquisition would hurt competition for top-selling manuscripts.
    • Karp wrote that his company and Penguin Random House see no basis for the lawsuit and that they plan to fight it.
    • The complaint alleges that the acquisition of Simon & Schuster for $2.175 billion would put Penguin Random House in control of close to half the market for acquiring publishing rights to anticipated top-selling books, leaving hundreds of individual authors with fewer options and less leverage.
    Source

  2. 2021

    UK competition watchdog investigates Penguin Random House–Simon & Schuster deal

    Investigation

    The UK Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation into Penguin Random House’s proposed $2bn takeover of Simon & Schuster, considering whether the deal would substantially lessen competition in UK markets. The deal had not been completed.

    Source excerpt

    • The UK competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Penguin Random House’s $2bn (£1.45bn) takeover of Simon & Schuster, a deal rivals have warned will create a “behemoth of books” with too much power in the global publishing industry.
    • On Monday, the Competition and Markets Authority said it was considering whether the deal, which cements PRH’s position as the world’s biggest book publisher, would result in a “substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services”.
    Source

  3. 2020

    Audible and publishers resolve Captions lawsuit

    Settlement

    Audible and a group of publishers resolved their dispute over Audible Captions, a feature that the publishers had alleged converted and distributed audiobook text without authorization. Attorneys for the parties said they expected to submit settlement documents by 21 January. The source provides no further details about the terms of the settlement.

    Audible and the publishers resolved their dispute over Audible Captions, which publishers had alleged converted and distributed audiobook text without authorization. Their attorneys said they expected to submit settlement documents by 21 January; the source provides no further settlement details.

    Source excerpt

    • Seven publishers, including the “Big Five” – Penguin Random House, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins and Macmillan – sued Audible in August
    • “Audible Captions takes publishers’ proprietary audiobooks, converts the narration into unauthorised text, and distributes the entire text of these ‘new’ digital books to Audible’s customers,” said the lawsuit.
    • In a letter filed this week in federal court in New York, Audible’s attorneys, writing on behalf of both sides, announced that the parties had resolved their disputes and expected to submit the settlement documents by 21 January.
    Source