World-renowned horror and fantasy novelist Stephen King testified in federal court Tuesday that a merger between his publisher Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House would stifle competition.
King served as a witness for the federal government, which filed a lawsuit seeking to block the nearly $2.2 billion acquisition.
STEPHEN KING TO TESTIFY AGAINST HIS OWN PUBLISHING COMPANY IN ANTITRUST CASE
“I came here because I think consolidation is bad for competition,” King said, according to the Wall Street Journal. “That’s my understanding of the book business, and I’ve been around it for 50 years.”
The proposed acquisition would harm writers because, as larger companies acquire smaller ones, it narrows the competition and makes it harder for smaller-time writers to make a living, King said during the second day of the trial, according to the report.
The acquisition would bring the top market from five major companies, which consist of Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette, down to four. Penguin Random House is the top publishing company in the United States, and Simon & Schuster is No. 4.
King supports the Department of Justice’s argument that the acquisition would create an unprecedented hold over the U.S. book market, thus allowing the companies to control how much authors are paid, which could result in smaller advances for authors and fewer books for readers. The defense countered that the sale would benefit readers, booksellers, and authors by creating a more efficient company that would bring lower prices for books.
The publishers are also expected to argue the companies are rarely the top two bidders when fighting for potential bestsellers, and that even if the sale did go through, Simon & Schuster would exist as an imprint under Penguin and Random House’s umbrella. According to Penguin Random House, imprints are allowed to place competing bids against each other for rights to the same novel.
King dismissed the competition claim.
“It’s a little bit ridiculous,” King said. “You might as well say you’re going to have a husband and wife bidding against each other for the same house.”
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The lawsuit is part of the Biden administration’s crackdown on large mergers that some are concerned could limit competition in many fields, such as the government’s moves to block the merger of UnitedHealth Group and Change Healthcare.
The trial over the book-publishing merger, taking place at the District Court in Washington, D.C., began Monday and is expected to last two-three weeks.
