Romanian company Octra, which operates the successful book rental service Bookster but claims to be merely an intermediary between (unnamed, supposedly public) libraries and corporate clients wishing to borrow books, denied its involvement in the complaint against the publishers, which resulted in a fine of six million RON (1.2 million EUR) imposed by the Competition Authority.
Octra said it had acquired the Bookster brand from the Education for All Children Association, “which previously owned the library and filed the complaint with the Competition Council,” Digi24 reported.
In doing so, Octra distances itself from the practices of the previous owner of the Bookster brand and claims to operate a legitimate business in the (book) transportation sector, just as Uber Eats does in the (food) transportation business.
Bookster was founded in 2013 by Bogdan Georgescu and Alexandra Stroe, but was acquired by Octavian Radu in 2022.
Last week, the Competition Authority imposed fines totalling RON 6 million on several publishers and bookstores after concluding that the authors had colluded by refusing to sell books to Bookster. The investigation was launched by Bookster under the leadership of former owners.
The publishers deny such allegations and claim that the fines would destroy their business, which is already on the verge of bankruptcy.
In the past, publishers have accused Bookster of allegedly violating intellectual property rights by lending books for a fee without being registered as a public library or paying royalties. At the time, Bookster’s founder praised its business model and accused publishers of not selling books.
Unlike the Education for All Children Association, Octra claims that it no longer buys books (in fact, the books are not its property), but instead delivers books from public libraries (which are non-profit organizations and therefore do not pay royalties associated with the intellectual property rights) to end users for a fee – a fee that corresponds to the transportation rather than the use of the books.
Law firm RTPR shed some light on the case, announcing that it had “represented Bookster (actually the Education for All Children Association) in the Competition Council’s investigation, during which several publishers and their industry association were fined for attempting to force Bookster out of the market through concerted, anti-competitive activities.”
RTPR claims it also won the case in which publishers tried to ban Bookster as a whole.
“We are pleased that our arguments have been heard by the Competition Council. This case tells the story of many technological revolutions – traditional players in the industry join forces and try to squeeze out the new business for fear of losing the interest of customers who prefer the innovative service. In this case, it is about the much easier access to reading that Bookster offers,” said RTPR partner Valentin Berea.
(Photo source: Mikael Damkier/Dreamstime.com)
