Forlagið Fined 25 Million For Breaking Competition Law

Leading Icelandic publishing house, Forlagið, has been fined 25 million ISK for breaking competition laws, reports RÚV.

Forlagið was founded in 2008 after a merger between JPV-útgáfa (JPV Publishing) and publishing company Vegamót. For the merger to be approved the companies had to agree to 21 terms preventing market monopoly.

One of those terms was that, as the largest publisher in the country, Forlagið could only control the wholesale price of their books. But the Icelandic Competition Authority found they were controlling retail prices in certain instances also.

Additionally, there was a clause that stipulated that the rights to publish books by one of Iceland’s most acclaimed authors, Halldór Laxness, would have to go to another publishing house. Forlagið however, claim that no one else is willing to buy these rights.