Hearing to Begin in Case Against Borders, Barnes & Noble

Arguments are set to begin in federal court today in a case pitting Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc. against independent booksellers who assert the chains receive illegal preferential treatment from publishers for secret deals and steep discounts. The trial will be heard by U.S. District Judge William Orrick Jr. in San Francisco rather than a jury. The suit asserts that the two major book chains, which urged Orrick to throw out the suit, use their weight illegally to demand major discounts from some of the nation’s largest publishers. That, in turn, undermines mom-and-pop bookstores that cannot acquire the same deals. It’s an allegation that the chains deny. Two weeks ago, in a partial victory for the big chains, Orrick denied the American Booksellers Assn. and its 27 bookstore co-plaintiffs the ability to claim monetary damages should they win. But he also denied the chains’ bid to dismiss the case. Both bookstore chains maintain the suit has no merit.