In the week since the settlement of the suit brought by the ABA against Barnes & Noble and Borders, reaction in the industry has varied widely, and many seem still to be digesting the abrupt halt of the three-year-old case. In well-documented comments, the defendants were jubilant and used words like "vindication" and "victory."

Publishers, many of whom resented time and money spent supplying documents and providing depositions for the case, were happy it was over. One said, "It cost us a ton of money." An executive at a major New York house said he hoped that with the decision, the ABA "will focus internally rather than externally about how to survive in a world with Barnes & Noble without suing."

For the most part, independent booksellers supported the ABA's decision to settle, although many were taken aback at the cost of litigation, and some, including several of the 26 co-plaintiff bookstores, disagreed with the decision to end the suit.

Many booksellers with whom PW has spoken in the past week echoed the ABA's position that while it had not gained all it wanted, it had aired the issues of unfair terms and publishers had ceased the most egregiously unfair practices. As co-plaintiff Susan Novotny of the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y., said, "After six days [of trial], we'd entered into public testimony a tremendous amount of unjustified and unfair deals being offered to the chains."

Others emphasized the moral boost they derived from having the association stand up for their interests. PW Bookseller of the Year Nancy Olson of Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, N.C., said, "It's so heartening to have an advocate who will go to court for me. I'm happy to pay my dues and have the ABA defend me."

No one was happy, however, about the legal costs, which will net at about $14 million, and several worried that the ABA might be, as one put it, "depleting its resources."

Several booksellers lamented that the trial ended before chain executives took the stand. Co-plaintiff John Evans of Lemuria Bookstore, Jackson, Miss., said, "I would have liked the opportunity for our lawyers to get the B&N people on the stand and hear what they had to say." There was some speculation that either B&N or Borders "had the goods" on the ABA or that the ABA hadn't found as much as it expected. On the other hand, some thought, too, that the chains' agreement to contribute to the ABA's legal expenses may have come in part to avoid having their executives testify.

ABA chief operating officer Oren Teicher told PW that the association chose to accept the chains' offer after only six days of testimony "because we had accomplished much of what we had set out to do... leveling the playing field between our members and the chains and to shine as much light as we could on the way the industry operates."

Teicher said that the favorable ruling the chains received on their summary judgment request, which threw out damages, coupled with the way the trial began, made it clear "we were in an uphill fight in Judge Orrick's courtroom." Teicher noted that even if the ABA had prevailed, it was possible that the judge would have granted injunctive relief only from the time of his decision and let stand what had happened in the past. Teicher added that since the ABA board felt the association had achieved many of its goals, it decided against risking further unfavorable decisions by the court and incurring additional expenses.

Several booksellers were unhappy with the board's decision to settle. Co-plaintiffs Doug Dutton and staff members Ed Conklin and Lise Friedman of Dutton's Brentwood, Los Angeles, Calif., issued a statement saying they "strongly disagree" with the decision to settle. The statement also lambasted the decision to settle as a triumph of financial concerns over principle. "We believe the fight, once begun, should have gone to the bitter end," the statement concluded. Speaking with PW, Dutton said he had talked in recent days with such settlement supporters as Andy Ross of Cody's Books and Joyce Meskis of the Tattered Cover, and he added, "We are respectfully not in agreement." Dutton emphasized that the settlement "doesn't feel like a victory to me," but that he continues to support the ABA. "I am going along with the majority and dissenting at the same time," he said.