The Justice Department alleges the publishers’ proposed merger would form a monopsony, or an unfair buying market.
A monopsony is the mirror image of a monopoly, and is sometimes called a buyer’s monopoly. Instead of a market with only one seller who can charge whatever they like, a monopsony is a market with only one buyer, who can set their price however they like.
I don’t see how anyone could with a straight face say that two of the biggest publishing companies merging, who are anticipated to publish more than a third of the market, is not detrimental to writers having a competitive market to sell their work. But, we don’t seem to care about that too much 🤷♀️
See also: Book industry insights from Penguin Random House merger trial
