E-Book Buyers Celebrate $69 Million Settlement in Apple Price-Fixing Case

By Karla Robinson
August 31, 2012

Three major book publishers are paying out $69 million to consumers after allegedly conspiring with Apple to fix the price of e-books.
Simon & Schuster, Hachette and HarperCollins have reached a settlement with 49 U.S. state governments (all except Minnesota) as well as 5 U.S. territories. If the court accepts the deal, consumers in those areas will be reimbursed $0.25 to $1.32 for every e-book they purchased between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012.
“The publishers will also put aside $7.6 million to compensate the states for investigation and attorneys’ costs and an additional $750,000 each to pay for the notification process,” which includes Google and Facebook ads, reports paidContent.
Publishers Penguin and Macmillan are still holding out along with Apple, but the states are pursuing another lawsuit against the companies. In the mean time, the other three publishers will compensate all e-book customers.
“Even though only three of the five accused publishers are part of the deal, publishers who bought an e-book from any one of the five will be compensated. The office of Connecticut’s attorney general said by email that this is because any conspirator is responsible for the actions of a co-conspirator,” the article concludes.

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