The United States begins a legal battle against the merger of giant publishing companies

Washington – The government and publishing giant Penguin Random House are set to exchange opening shots on Federal Antitrust Trial On Monday, the United States seeks to prevent the largest US book publisher from absorbing rival Simon & Schuster. The case comes as a major test for the Biden administration Antitrust policy.

The Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit to prevent Merger $2.2 billionWhich will reduce the number of the Big Five publishers in the United States to four.

In an unusual move, he will be the star government witness King Stephen, the famous and distinguished author whose work has been published by Simon & Schuster. King is expected to testify during the weeks-long trial in US District Court in Washington, DC

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The government claims it would harm the authors and, ultimately, readers if German media giant Bertelsmann, of which Penguin Random House is a division, were allowed to buy Simon & Schuster from Paramount Global Media and Entertainment. She says the deal will stymie competition and give Penguin Random House a huge influence over books published in the United States, likely reducing the amount paid to authors and giving consumers fewer books to choose from.

Publishers respond by saying that the merger will boost competition among publishers to find and sell the best books, by enabling the combined company to offer greater upfront payments and marketing support for authors. They say it will benefit readers, booksellers, and authors.

Lawyers opposing both sides will file their cases with US District Judge Florence Bane.

New York-based publishers have impressive stables of great authors, who have sold several million copies and racked up multi-million dollar deals. Inside the Penguin Random House is Barack and Michelle Obamawhose memoirs totaled $65 million, Bill Clinton, who received $15 million for his memoirs, Toni Morrison, John Grisham and Dan Brown.

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Simon & Schuster calculates Hillary Clinton, who received $8 million for her memoirs, Bob Woodward and Walter Isaacson. And the king.

Bruce Springsteen divides the difference: his book “Rebels: Born in the United States” with Barack Obama, published by Penguin Random House; His memoirs by Simon & Schuster.

The Department of Justice maintains that given the current situation, No. 1 Penguin Random House and No. 4 Simon & Schuster, by total sales, are competing fiercely for the rights to the anticipated bestseller. If allowed to merge, the combined company would control roughly 50% of the market for those books, she says, hurting competition by reducing advances paid to authors and reducing production, creativity and diversity.

The Big Five – the other three being Hachette, HarperCollins, and Macmillan – dominate publishing in the United States. The government says it makes up 90% of the projected bestseller market.

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The Biden administration is laying new ground on business focus and competition, and the government’s case against publisher mergers can be seen as an important step.

President Joe Biden has made competition a pillar of his economic policy, denouncing what he calls the massive market power of a range of industries and stressing the importance of strong competition for the economy, workers, consumers, and small businesses. Biden, a Democrat, has called on federal regulators, notably the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, to give more scrutiny to big business groups.

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