Amazon.com has settled an antitrust lawsuit brought over its print-on-demand book service. An independent print-on-demand publisher, Booklocker, sued Amazon in 2008; Booklocker objected to Amazon's policy of forcing publishers who print on-demand books to use Amazon's own printing facilities if they want to sell on the Amazon.com website.

In the settlement agreement (pdf, 5 pages), which Booklocker published, Amazon pledged to continue listing and selling Booklocker titles — which are not printed by Amazon. But it wasn't clear if Amazon will extend that concession to other print-on-demand publishers.

Print-on-demand publishers specialize in printing individual copies or small batches of books — typically older, backlist titles or self-published books that aren't conducive to a huge print run. While these books aren't blockbusters, universities and others increasingly view them as source of additional revenue. Amazon's decision in 2008 to channel the print-on-demand books sold on its website through its own printing service, BookSurge, was seen as an effort by the company to tighten its control over the sector.

The Booklocker settlement deal is unclear on the subject of how Amazon will deal with other print-on-demand publishers in the future. The settlement notes that Amazon posted a letter on its website in November 2009 saying it would "continue to work with partners on a non-exclusive, case-by-case basis to provide them with the POD (print-on-demand) services that work best for them." But the settlement later states that, "Nothing in this Agreement, however, shall restrict Amazon from negotiating in good faith the terms on which it purchases books for resale from any vendor, including Booklocker."

Booklocker, based in Bangor, Maine, had sought class action status for its lawsuit against Amazon, but said it was unable to get other print-on-demand publishers to take part in the litigation.

"That's a bitter pill for me to swallow because I had all these publishers contacting me on the side begging me not to reveal their names but supporting us. But nobody stepped forward to be a lead plaintiff with us," said Booklocker co-owner Angela Hoy. "Everybody else was too publicly afraid to confront Amazon."

As part of the settlement, Amazon also agreed to pay $300,000 for Booklocker's attorneys fees and costs. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Here's more from the Booklocker blog on the lawsuit (Side note: the blog says Amazon recently retired the name "BookSurge" for its on-demand printing service and now calls it CreateSpace).

Amazon recently settled two other proposed class action lawsuits, one over cracked Kindles and the other over its remote deletion of George Orwell novels from people's Kindles.

Follow my updates on Twitter.