Amazon.com, Disney Back at Peace

"Maleficent" and "The Guardians of the Galaxy" are back in the biggest store on the Internet.

Amazon.com Inc. appears to be close to settling a nearly two-month dispute with Walt Disney Co. during which the e-commerce giant stopped offering Disney DVDs for preorder. Among the subjects at issue were pricing, promotion on the Amazon website, and questions over who makes up the difference when Amazon loses money to match the prices of competitors.

Details of the talks weren't available and it is unclear whether the two companies are finalizing a new long-term deal or have simply progressed far enough that Amazon was willing to make a concession. But upcoming Disney DVD releases including "Guardians," "Maleficent," "Million Dollar Arm," "Planes: Fire and Rescue" and "The 100-Foot Journey" returned to Amazon last week, a knowledgeable person confirmed.

The Disney-Amazon feud began in early August. A similar dispute between Amazon and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. in the spring lasted several weeks. Warner Bros. movies became available for preorder again in June after the studio and Amazon had made significant progress toward a deal, but had not finished ironing out details.

Amazon continues to negotiate a contract with publisher Hachette Book Group, a unit of Lagardere SCA, over e-book pricing terms. In that dispute, Amazon has for about six months slowed delivery of many Hachette titles, reduced discounts and limited preordering as a tactic to get the publisher to agree to its terms. Amazon wants Hachette to price most of its e-books at $9.99, a price it says leads to the most sales. Hachette has said it should be free to price its titles as it sees fit.

The result of Amazon's negotiations with Hachette is expected to be a bellwether for its talks with the other major publishers. That is one reason Hatchette CEO Michael Pietsch has held his ground against Amazon, even as Hachette authors have complained the feud has cratered sales.

Testy contract renewals with suppliers are nothing new for Amazon, but in the past year they have spilled into public view more frequently than in the past. In previous disputes, the Internet giant took fewer steps such as halting preorders and changing search results to emphasize competitors" products.

Write to Ben Fritz at [e-mail] and Greg Bensinger at [e-mail]

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