Amazon and HarperCollins skirt showdown

Amazon (AMZN) and publisher HarperCollins have skirted a major showdown.

The two companies reportedly reached an agreement that allows News Corp-owned (NWSA) HarperCollins to set the retail prices of its digital books. The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal will go into effect this week.

HarperCollins released a statement saying it has "reached an agreement with Amazon and our books will continue to be available on the Amazon print and digital platforms."

This deal ends speculation that HarperCollins was preparing to battle Amazon, as Hachette Book Group did last year. During the high-profile Hachette-Amazon conflict, Amazon delayed Hachette book deliveries and removed pre-order features from its website.

Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli notes this is a win-win for both HarperCollins and Amazon.

“I think it's kind of a non-aggression pact between Amazon and the publishers,” he says. “Maybe an uncomfortable one… [It] probably does in the end show Amazon's power. It's not as if they're giving up terribly much to keep these titles in their system.”

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In addition to HarperCollins, Amazon has deals with three of the four other major publishers, including Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan. The final publisher, Penguin Randomhouse, has yet to confirm the status of a deal with the online retailer.

Santoli expects more problems to arise between content creators and distributors in all forms of media.

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“You're seeing exactly the same thing going on in music,” he says. “All the artists there are rallying and saying ‘Look we're not being compensated properly by the new digital platforms…’ This war between content creators and these new distributors…is not over.”