The agreement concluded by the Polish publisher of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” with its distributors, under which the book could not be sold at a price differing by more than 10 percent from the price printed on the cover, may be a banned practice restricting competition. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection started antimonopoly proceedings in the matter

According to the information held by UOKiK, in November 2003  Harbor Point - publisher of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” in Poland, entered into agreement with eight distributors: EMPiK, Bertelsmann Media, WIKR, Grupa Matras, Ogólnopolski System Dystrybucji Wydawnictw - Azymut, Firma Księgarska Jacek Olesiejuk, DiSO and Wkra. Each of the participants declared in writing that the “retail price of the book may not differ from the price printed on the cover by more than 10 percent” - in case of paperback edition the price was 49 zloty and in case of hard cover edition - 59 zloty. The distributors also decided to inform the bookstores of the agreement and to take care that it was enforced.

In accordance with antimonopoly law, it is illegal to enter into agreements that restrict or infringe upon the principles of competition. In particular - if the agreements determine, directly or indirectly, prices or other terms of purchase, or sale of products. In the opinion of UOKiK, such a situation may have taken place in the described case. An agreement between the publisher and distributors on a minimum price of “Harry Potter” restricts the retail distributor’s rights to decide how much the book would cost in its store.

Additional information:
Elżbieta Anders, Spokesperson of UOKiK
International Relations and Communication Department
Office of Competition and Consumer Protection
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Ph.: (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 314
E-mail: [SCODE]ZWFuZGVyc0B1b2tpay5nb3YucGw=[ECODE]