German court halts Potter price cut

The German publication date of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has yet to be announced, but already the book has become the subject of a legal fight.

Carlsen, J K Rowling's German publisher, has obtained a temporary injunction from the Hamburg regional court to stop Amazon's German website from prominently displaying discounts on Bloomsbury's UK version of the fifth Harry Potter title.

While Amazon.de correctly stated Bloomsbury's suggested retail price of £16.99, the online bookseller then converted the price into Euros (€25.80) and offered the book for €16.80—a discount of 35%.

The court agreed with Carlsen's argument that this could trick consumers into believing that retail price maintenance for books no longer existed in Germany.

It also ruled that because there is no valid German retail price for the book, it is inadmissible to compare different currencies. Thus Amazon.de was guilty of breaching the law against unfair competition.

The online bookseller has since removed the controversial promotion. Its site still offers the book at €16.80, but without mentioning a discount.

The UK version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is number three on Amazon.de's bestseller list, with the untitled German translation already ranked eighth.

Other German online booksellers and wholesalers have followed suit and put an early price tag on Harry Potter. While Weltbild.de is matching Amazon, Booxtra is asking €19.95 and Buch.de €24.90.

With Harry Potter fever heating up in Germany, Carlsen is in a difficult position. The increasing interest in the English version may damage the sale of the German translation, for which no publication date has been set.

Pending the arrival of the manuscript, which then still needs to be translated, Bonnier-owned Carlsen is hoping to have the books in the shops some time in the autumn. But it is no longer ruling out publication in early 2004.

AnjaSieg@aol.com