Booksellers’ Guidelines for Communication and Discussion

By definition, ABA member bookstores are competitors and whenever groups of competitors communicate or come together to discuss business, they must be mindful to comply with antitrust law.

Antitrust Guidelines

1. There can be no discussions of price or pricing policies. Competitors are never allowed to agree on the price at which merchandise is sold, or discounts at which merchandise is offered. All discussions of price and pricing policies are strictly off limits.
2. There can be no discussion of boycotts. Competitors cannot agree to cease doing business with any supplier for any reason. Nor can competitors agree to urge consumers to boycott a third competitor. Such action constitutes collusion and is strictly prohibited.
3. There can be no discussion of dividing up a market. For example, two booksellers in New York City cannot agree that one will market only to consumers north of 57th Street while the other markets only to customers south of 57th street. This is also collusion and is prohibited.

The Sherman Act makes all three of these actions illegal, and violations are punishable by treble damages and imprisonment. All three are per se violations, which means it only has to be proven that one is engaged in the activity—whether or not there was intent to harm, or actual harm was caused—for one to be found guilty of violating the law.