|
|
Article: Chain reaction. (Federal Trade Commission filed complaints against large publishers for violation of Robinson-Patman Act) (Books & The Arts) (column)
- Article from:
- The Nation
- Article date:
- May 1, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 The Nation Company L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
In December 22, 1988, in the waning days of the Reagan Administration, the Federal Trade Commission Med complaints against Harper & Row, Simon & Schuster, Putnam Berkeley, Macmillan, Random House and William Morrow - much of big-time book publishing-for violating the Robinson-Patman Act, an antitrust statute intended to insure that corporations don't manipulate the free market. The F.T.C. says that the publishers give favorable treatment to chain booksellers, which functions, as the commission's lawyers put it, 'substantially to lessen competition in the line or lines of commerce in which favored and disfavored purchasers are engaged.'
The "disfavored purchasers' ...