Disney is the latest company to have issues with the online giant Amazon after its customers were unable to pre-order Disney DVDs in what seems to be the latest contract dispute.
The book publisher Hachette had also been involved in a fierce stand-off with the online giant over contract negotiations. The disagreement led the online firm to stop selling its books directly to consumers.
Amazon recently published an open letter calling for all Hachette authors to put pressures on publishers to accept lower prices on e-books. However in retaliation, more than 900 authors took out a full-page advert in the New York Times publishing a letter calling on Amazon to stop intentionally slowing book sales during supplier disputes.
The letter read: “Amazon is contradicting its own promise to be the world’s most customer-centric retailer. Many of us have supported Amazon since it was a struggling start-up. This is no way to treat a business partner. Without taking sides on the contractual dispute between Hachette and Amazon, we encourage Amazon in the strongest possible terms to stop harming the livelihood of the authors on whom it has built its business.”
Amazon is now introducing new proposals which will include a charge for publishers for a string of services such as a button to allow customers to pre-order books. These changes, if accepted, will become the blueprint for Amazon’s wider publishing industry.
Disney and Amazon declined to comment.
