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The article was prepared taking into account the false conclusions about the current situation of book publishing in Lithuania, in particular, the activities of small and mediumsized publishers. The aim of the article was to select small and medium publishers and to identify the specificity of their activities in contemporary Lithuanian book publishing. This goal implies several objectives: 1. To define what is included in the composition of small and medium-sized publishers and to carry out their statistical analysis in various sections; 2. To analyze the relationship between small and medium-sized publishers with the state; 3. To analyze the influence of the book distribution situation on the activities of small and medium-sized publishers; 4. Find out whether IT development provides new opportunities for small and medium-sized publishers. On the basis of scarce research, media publications, various statistical sources as well as the author's personal observations of the book publishing situation and networking with the publishers, it has been determined that there are more than 100 book publishers today in Lithuania, of which about 90 are small and medium-sized. An analysis of the existence of a publishing support system in Lithuania has shown that small and medium-size publishers cannot rely on it for their survival and activities because the support system does not take into account the specificity of publishing as a cultural activity and business. A major obstacle to the activities of small and medium-sized publishers is the monopoly on book trading system in Lithuania. Such a system gave rise to unfair competition. As a result, small and medium-sized publishers have to increasingly focus on direct distribution and adjust their publishing plans accordingly. Furthermore, the development of digital book publishing in Lithuania has not justified previous forecasts and failed to become a source of additional revenue for small and medium-sized publishers. Small and medium-sized publishers experience constant instability, they are challenged by the factors they cannot change such as market size, emigration and reduced purchasing power of people. Even though certain challenges are believed to be manageable, no positive changes to improve the publishers' situation have been introduced so far, such as a clear approach to publishing from the state, improved system of support and a regulation of the monopolized book distribution market. However, small and medium-sized publishers still are and will remain part and parcel of the Lithuanian book publishing landscape. The publishers who exit the market are replaced by new entrants into publishing business, therefore their activities should be evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Article 82 of the European Community Treaty prohibits abuse of dominant position in common market if such abuse might affect trade between member states. The prohibition to abuse dominant position is also embedded in Article 9 of Lithuanian Competition law. It should be noticed that after the establishment that actions of the undertaking acting in one of the member states might affect trade between member states, in respect of this subject both national and European Union competition law provisions should be applied. At the present moment the European Commission, which in European Union is responsible for the implementation of competition law, devotes a lot of attention to the analysis of the abuse of dominant position. In December 2005, one of the structural divisions of the European Commission, Directorate General on Competition has published "DG Competition discussion paper on the application of Article 82 of the Treaty to exclusionary abuses". By publishing this discussion paper DG Competition aimed to encourage all interested parties to submit their observations in relation to the plans of the Commission to establish new policy for a combating of exclusionary abuses as a form of abuse of dominant position. Plans of the Commission to establish expressis verbis above mentioned strategy in competition policy encouraged the author of this article to write it. It should be noticed that this article is not devoted for the comprehensive analysis of predatory pricing in EU law. Also, it should be emphasized that this article is not confined to the analysis of EU law; moreover it does not give supremacy for the analysis of EU law in relation to the other legal systems of the world. The aim of this article is to establish main features of the predatory pricing as a form of the abuse of dominant position. In order to achieve this aim decisions of the judicial institutions of the European Union and the United States are analyzed. While writing this article various methods have been employed -- historical, comparative, systematic, analytical and other methods. For the purposes of Article 82 predatory pricing can be defined as the practice where a dominant company lowers its price and thereby deliberately incurs losses or foregoes profits in the short run so as to enable it to eliminate or discipline one or more rivals or to prevent entry by one or more potential rivals thereby hindering the maintenance of the degree of competition still existing in the market or the growth of that competition. In order to qualify an activity as a predation three conditions have to be established: the predator has to sell its product at a price, which is below its own cost of production; the competitors have to be eliminated from the market as a result of this activity; and the predator need to have a predatory intent. In this article it is submitted that although there are many scholars who submit that predatory pricing might be met as rarely as a unicorn, nonetheless clear examples of predatory pricing are witnessed in the case law in the courts of Europe and the United States. Recent examples of the case law of the European Court of Justice support this conclusion. Thus it is necessary to enact legal acts establishing prohibition to engage in predatory pricing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]