Op-Ed: How an antitrust trial could limit the books you read - Los Angeles Times

Last November, the Department of Justice sued to stop the proposed merger of two of the country's largest publishers, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. At the time, U.S. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland said: "If the world's largest book publisher is permitted to acquire one of its biggest rivals, it will have unprecedented control over this important industry." The consolidated company, according to Garland, would control half the market for top-selling books.

The Authors Guild, America's oldest and largest association of published writers, opposes this merger. As we argued to the Justice Department in January 2021 - a position it adopted in its complaint - less competition in the industry, particularly allowing one publishing house to dominate all others, will be bad for authors and readers in general, and it could harm the free flow of ideas in our democracy.