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The Norwegian Competition Authority currently believes that players have unlawfully cooperated by sharing competition-sensitive information about, among other things, future book prices and timing of publication.
Department Director Gjermund Nese at the Norwegian Competition Authority.
The Norwegian Competition Authority
Published:,
The case is being updated …
It appears in an audit press release Thursday morning.
The Authority considers that the objective of the cooperation has been to restrict competition in violation of the prohibition against restrictive cooperation in the Competition Law and the EEA Agreement.
– We take this kind of illegal cooperation very seriously, which emphasizes the size of the reported fees, says department director Gjermund Nese of the Norwegian Competition Authority in the report.
– Our preliminary assessment is that the information exchange of publishers is adequate to restrict competition by allowing coordination of book prices, book selection and the timing of publication to the detriment of consumers, continues Nese.
The evaluations come after the audit conducted a stakeholder raid in January 2018.
Gyldendal questions the evaluation
The reported infringement rates are divided between NOK 202.4 million for Gyldendal, NOK 151.9 million for Cappelen Damm, NOK 93.4 million for Forlagshuset Vigmostad & Bjørke, NOK 50.8 million for Aschehoug and NOK 3.89 million for Bokbasen.
Gyldendal was informed of the announcement of the decision on Wednesday, the company states in a stock exchange announcement. The editor questions the assessment and will enter into a dialogue with the Authority on the matter.
E24 has contacted Aschehoug, who has yet to comment on the case. E24 has also tried to contact Forlagshuset Vigmostad & Bjørke and Cappelen Damm, who have not responded to our inquiries.
– Systematic
The Norwegian Competition Authority believes that there has been an exchange of information through the Bokbasen book database. Together, the publishers have purchased Bokbasen’s Mentor Forlag subscription, which has given them the opportunity to share information about each other’s posts through the database, according to the audit.
– Our assessment is that publishers have consistently entered information about their own publications into the database and have been aware that other publishers could retrieve this information. Information sharing that includes future prices is at the core of what is seen as detrimental to competition and may lead to consumers having to pay higher prices, says project manager Jan Petter Fedje of the Norwegian Competition Authority.
The Norwegian Competition Authority emphasizes that the notification is preliminary and that no final decision has been made in the case. Companies have until November 24 to submit comments.
The audit indicates that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has appointed Eirik Stolt-Nielsen as the established competition director in the case, as the competition director Lars Sørgard is incompetent.
