“It is illegal for competitors to share information that could limit competition in a market,” reports the Norwegian Competition Authority. They now owe the four largest publishers in the country, Gyldendal, Cappelen Damm, Vigmostad & Bjørke and Aschehoug, and Bokbasen for illegally sharing information about future book prices. CEO Tørres Thuv in Gyldendal “fundamentally disagrees with the authority’s assessment” in a stock exchange announcement, and further writes that they will pursue the case further: “The book database gives everyone public and equal access to information about all book publications, and is absolutely essential for giving the population a wide range of literature. It is not designed to exchange competitively sensitive information, has not been suitable for this and has not been used for this. Nor is there anything that shows such behavior on the part of the parties involved.” CEO Tørres Thuv in Gyldendal. Photo: Petter Sommer / news – Me er skaka Bokbasen offers several digital subscriptions, and is owned by the four publishers. One of the subscriptions they offer is Mentor Forlag, and it is through this that the Norwegian Competition Authority believes that the publisher should share and receive competitively sensitive information. The Norwegian Competition Authority informs news that through investigation they have found a lot of evidence that the publisher has shared this information in a database that everyone had access to. – This has given the actors a complete overview of each other’s behavior in the market, and may have led to consumers having to pay higher prices for books, says competition director Tina Søreide in a press release. Competition director Tina Søreide at the Norwegian Competition Authority. Photo: Bjørn Olav Nordahl / news CEO and publisher Mads Nygaard in Aschehoug says in a comment that they are shocked by the quality of the Competition Authority’s work. The publisher further states in a press release that they are complaining about the Norwegian Competition Authority’s decision, and claim that the allegations and the decision are wrong. Managing director Tom Harald Jenssen in Cappelen Damm says in a press release that for them, such a description of reality appears to be completely absurd. They call the decision “a baseless attack on the Norwegian book industry”. Managing director Tom Harald Jenssen in Cappelen Damm Photo: Norrud, Erik / Samfoto Dagsavisen – Going beyond consumers Nese in the Competition Authority says he is not surprised that the companies disagree on this decision, but clarifies that their work is based on a comprehensive assessment of all sides in this case. – Exchange of this information, for example about future prices for books, is at the heart of what harms competition. The high fees given in the case reflect that we see this as a serious breach of the Competition Act, says Nese to news. He further points out that breaches of the Competition Act ultimately always affect consumers. – In this case, there is reason to believe that the collaboration has led to the prices of books being higher than they would otherwise be. Department director Gjermund Nese in the Competition Authority believes that it is the consumers who ultimately lose from what they refer to as a serious breach of the competition law. Photo: Konkurransetilsynet – Serious – It is serious when there are debts of half a billion. Based on the information I have received, all publishers will contest the fee, says Heidi Austlid, head of the Publishers’ Association, to news. She emphasizes that they currently do not have any more information beyond what the Competition Authority wrote on Tuesday morning. – So now it is up to the voting parties to dispute or complain about this to the Competition Complaints Board. Already in 2020, the Competition Authority notified that they would impose a fee on the five players. Bobasen AS is charged with an infringement fee of NOK 4.1 million for facilitating the exchange of information through Mentor Forlag. Cappelen Damm receives a fee of NOK 131.4 million for the deliberate exchange of sensitive information. Vigmostad & Bjørke AS/Forlagshuset Vigmostad & Bjørke AS receives a fee of NOK 92.6 million, while Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS/Gyldendal ASA and Aschehoug receive an infringement fee of NOK 252.1 million and NOK 64.6 million, respectively.
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– We fundamentally disagree on the assessment – news Culture and entertainment
