Storytel Turkey Yayıncılık Hizmetleri A.Ş. (STORYTEL) was under investigation by the Competition Board based on the allegations of violating Articles 4 and 6 of the Law on Protection of Competition No. 4054, by preventing the entry of rival companies into the online audiobook streaming services market and hindering their growth through long-term exclusivity agreements with publishers and authors.
While the Competition Board was conducting the investigation, STORYTEL submitted an application to initiate the commitment process to address anticompetitive concerns identified in the case file. Following the discussions, STORYTEL presented its final commitment package for evaluation by the Board.
The Board found STORYTEL's final commitments to be capable of addressing competition issues arising from STORYTEL's behavior, being implementable in a short period, and effective. In its meeting on 30.11.2023, the Board decided, with decision number 23-55/1076-380, to make the commitments in the final commitment text binding on STORYTEL and concluded the ongoing investigation against STORYTEL.
A summary of the commitment package offered by STORYTEL is as follows:
*Existing Audiobook Licensing Agreements in effect for one year or longer with publishers/rights holders before the binding date of the commitments will be amended to exclude granting exclusive rights to STORYTEL for producing the audiobook format of a specific book.
*Existing Audiobook Licensing Agreements in effect for less than one year before the binding date of the commitments will be amended, eliminating exclusive rights to STORYTEL once the agreement completes its first year from the signing date.
*Audiobook Licensing Agreements signed after the binding date of the commitments will not grant exclusive rights to STORYTEL for producing the audiobook format of a specific book.
*Content Distribution Agreements will not provide exclusivity/full license to STORYTEL for the content distributed through them.
*Voice Acting Agreements will not include an obligation for Voice Actors to exclusively perform voice acting for STORYTEL.
For further information, please feel free to contact us.
Sibel OZTURK, LL.M.
Türkçe