【聯合報╱By MELISSA EDDY╱任中原譯】
Germans Bristling at Amazon’s Tactic of Delaying Books
BERLIN — It was German authors, carefully monitoring their Amazon rankings, who were among the first to notice something was amiss.
Amazon was suddenly saying it could take as many as 11 days to deliver some older titles — inconceivable given that a system of distributors ensuring deliveries within 24 hours has existed for decades .
Only when the German division of the Bonnier Media Group wrote to its authors and agents several weeks ago to apologize for the delays did an explanation emerge. Bonnier, one of Germany’s largest publishing groups, said it was in negotiations with Amazon over how to share the earnings of its electronic books. The delays appeared to be a tactic aimed at forcing the publisher to give Amazon a bigger cut .
Like their counterparts in the United States who have felt Amazon’s clout, German book agents are chafing. “This is above all about the future market and the e-book market,” said Matthias Landwehr, a literary agent who represents many of the authors affected.
So far, unlike in the United States, where Amazon has been discouraging customers from buying new and coming titles from Hachette by making it impossible to order or pre-order, the tactics in Germany involve only delays in deliveries of backlist titles of authors published by houses owned by the Bonnier Media Group.
But in Europe, where the clout of American Internet giants is already deeply resented, Amazon may find itself facing rules and resistance of sorts it has not encountered in the United States.
Other European countries like France and Britain do not appear to be affected so far by Amazon’s actions. Sales of Hachette’s books via Amazon’s site in France did not appear to be impeded . Nor have other leading German publishers been targets.
Still, many in the publishing world here contend that Amazon has used the negotiations with the German Bonnier imprints, which include Piper, Ullstein, Carlsen and Berlin Verlag, to send a message.
“They are using them to set an example and counting on the fact that publishers are not allowed to speak with one another,” Mr. Landwehr said of Amazon, citing potential antitrust concerns on the publishers’ part if they should compare notes. “But if they can get them to change the existing conditions with one publisher, it would trigger a domino effect.”
Amazon did not comment. This year, French lawmakers approved what has become known informally as the “anti- Amazon law,” which restricts online vendors from offering free delivery on top of the country’s maximum 5 percent discount on books.
In Germany, the company came under fire last year for its use of immigrant workers, and Amazon workers in two of the largest distribution plants have been struggling to unionize. But the new dispute marks the first time the American company has confronted head-on Germany’s tradition of protecting the printed word. Books in Germany are considered of such indispensable value to society that publishers are allowed to dictate the prices at which retailers can sell all new titles, including best sellers and e-books. That law also is aimed at ensuring the survival of a thriving network of bookshops.
Yet in a country where shopping hours are also tightly controlled by the government, Germans are becoming accustomed to the ease of ordering books at all hours and having them delivered . Germany’s book-order business grew by 4 percent last year to 2.7 billion euros, or $3.7 billion, according to the Federation of Mail-Order Booksellers. Amazon controll ed more than half of the German market, with sales of ?1.9 billion.
Amazon has an even stronger hold on the e-book market here, despite attempts by German publishers to create an alternative open-source platform . E-book sales in Germany grew 200 percent from 2012 to 2013, and experts predict that number will only increase. The German booksellers association has call ed on lawmakers to adapt antitrust laws to the digital market, and allow publishers to band together.
While Amazon receives a 50 percent cut of all printed books it sells in Germany, the standard rate for e-books gives the company just 30 percent of the sales price . Amazon appears to be banking on the strength of its position to push for a larger share . Joscha Sauer, a cartoonist whose works are published by Carlsen, took to social media to denounce Amazon .
“From a purely moral standpoint, what Amazon is doing is a dirty trick,” Mr. Sauer said. “From an economic point of view, it is nothing out of the ordinary.”
中譯
最早注意到不對勁的，是一些德國作家，他們密切追蹤自己的作品在亞馬遜網路書店的銷售排名。
德國的書籍配送系統數十年來一向保證24小時之內到貨，現在亞馬遜突然說，一些出版了一陣子的書最久可能要11天才能寄達讀者手中，令人難以置信。
一直到幾周前，邦尼爾媒體集團德國分公司去函作家及經紀人，為亞馬遜的延遲出書道歉，此事的原委才浮出檯面。邦尼爾是德國最大的出版集團之一，該公司表示正與亞馬遜商談如何分配其電子書的利潤。延遲出書顯然是亞馬遜的策略，目的是迫使出版社讓亞馬遜多分一些。
德國的出版經紀商就跟他們那些已感受到亞馬遜影響力的美國同業一樣，覺得憤怒。旗下許多作家受到影響的文學線出版經紀人藍德維說：「這件事最主要關係到未來的書市和電子書市場。」
目前，德國亞馬遜的策略僅涉及延遲遞送邦尼爾媒體集團旗下出版社的書目品項，不像美國亞馬遜那樣，藉由使訂購或預訂變得不可能，讓消費者不買阿歇特出版社剛出版及即將出版的新書。
但在對美國大型網路公司影響力深惡痛絕的歐洲，亞馬遜可能會面對在美國未曾遭遇的法規及抵制。
像英、法這些其他歐洲國家，目前看來不受亞馬遜行動的影響。法國亞馬遜售出的阿歇特出版社的書，似乎未受延遲。其他德國知名出版社也並未被亞馬遜盯上。
但在德國，出版界卻有許多人說，亞馬遜利用與邦尼爾旗下各出版社的談判傳遞出訊息，這些出版社包括派柏、烏爾斯坦、卡爾森及柏林出版社。
藍德維指出，這些出版社如果互相比較給亞馬遜的折扣，可能引發壟斷疑慮，他說：「亞馬遜仗著出版社彼此不可互通聲息的事實，拿這些出版社殺雞儆猴。但如果亞馬遜能讓一家出版社改變現行合約條件，就會引發骨牌效應。」
亞馬遜未就此事發表評論。
法國國會今年通過了非正式名稱為「反亞馬遜法」的法令，規定線上零售業者不得在法國書籍書價最高打九五折之外，提供免運費的優惠。
德國亞馬遜去年因為雇用移工而飽受批評，且德國亞馬遜兩個最大發貨中心員工亦仍未能組成工會。
但上述新爭議卻是這家美國公司首度與德國保護出版業的傳統正面衝突。德國人認為書對社會具有不可取代的價值，出版公司依法可指定零售新書的價格，包括暢銷書及電子書。這項法令同時用以確保興盛的書店業得以存活。
然而在購物時間也受政府嚴格管制的德國，民眾對隨時訂書、寄送到家的便易已日益習慣。
郵購書商聯盟統計，德國去年訂購書營業額較前年增加4%，達27億歐元（約台幣1106億元），亞馬遜占了一半以上，營業額為19億歐元。
亞馬遜在德國電子書市場的占比更高，儘管德國各出版公司企圖另創一個自由開放的銷售平台。從2012年到2013年，德國電子書營業額成長200%，專家預測未來只增不減。
德國書商聯盟曾要求國會議員把數位市場也納入反托辣斯法管轄的範圍，且允許出版社聯合起來發揮影響力。
如今亞馬遜在德國出售各出版社的紙本書，可以分得售價的五成，而在電子書部分依標準作法卻只能分到三成。現在亞馬遜似乎是仗著其市場占有率優勢，要求多分一些。
漫畫家索爾的幾部作品都是由卡爾森出版公司出版，他透過社群媒體譴責亞馬遜。
索爾說：「從純道德的角度來看，亞馬遜現在的行徑卑鄙下流。但從經濟的角度來看，不足為奇。」
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