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June 14 (Reuters) - Amazon.com is facing a proposed class action claiming it has monopolized the retail market for audiobooks, leading authors to overpay for the distribution of their works.
The Seattle federal court lawsuit, opens new tab from author Christine DeMaio, who publishes under the name CD Reiss, said Amazon is violating U.S. antitrust law by charging higher distribution fees for writers who do not exclusively use the e-commerce giant's platform.
Amazon has used exclusivity agreements "to lock up content," impairing the ability of rivals to compete and affecting billions of dollars in audiobook sales, the lawsuit said.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The plaintiff's attorney Steve Berman said authors deserved "a fair price for their work and not to be the victims of Amazon's abusive monopoly practices."
Sales of audiobooks have steadily risen in recent years, reaching nearly $2 billion in 2022, according to the lawsuit.
Amazon in 2008 bought digital audiobooks provider Audible for about $300 million. The lawsuit called Audible the world's largest audiobook retailer, accounting for more than 60% of domestic purchasing compared with about 20% for Apple.
The lawsuit seeks more than $5 million in damages and class action status for thousands of authors and rights holders who paid a distribution fee to Amazon of at least 60% on sales. That fee increases to 75% for "non-exclusive" audiobooks that are sold on Amazon and elsewhere, the complaint said.
Berman's law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is also leading a consumer antitrust lawsuit accusing Amazon of artificially inflating the price of ebooks on its platform.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission last year accused Amazon of antitrust violations by punishing sellers for offering better prices on other platforms and charging costly fees on merchants. Amazon has denied the claims in the ebook and FTC cases.
The case is CD Reiss v. Amazon.com, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, No. 2:24-cv-00851.
Posted In: AMZN
