Amazon and Warner Bros. May Have Buried the Hatchet

The dispute between Amazon and Warner Bros. seems to be coming to a close. The Wall Street Journal reports that the option to pre-order upcoming Warner Bros. DVDs and Blu-Rays like Transcendence and 300: Rise of an Empire has been restored on the online retailer’s website after disappearing last month. Amazon had reportedly been trying to negotiate more favorable pricing terms for Warner Bros. films.

The conflict echoed the much more public spat between Amazon and book publisher Hachette, which has been protracted over several months as the two sides negotiate pricing terms. In addition to removing the option to pre-order certain Hachette titles, Amazon has also slowed shipping of the publisher’s books to customers and recommended people buy books from competing publishers instead.

Amazon says it is using these tactics on behalf of its own customers. “Negotiating for acceptable terms is an essential business practice that is critical to keeping service and value high for customers in the medium and long term,” the company said in its only public statement on the dispute back in May.

Unlike the Warner Bros. conflict, Amazon said it does not expect its issues with Hachette to be resolved in the near future.