The U.S. Supreme Court has denied Apple its final appeal in a case involving price fixing of eBooks. The litigation and settlement in this case stemmed from a two-year investigation conducted by the offices of the Connecticut and Texas Attorneys General and the U.S. Department of Justice.
In 2013, a federal district court ruled that Apple conspired to restrain the marketplace for eBooks. The 33 plaintiff states in the lawsuit reached a contingent settlement with Apple in July 2014. In June 2015, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the District Court’s ruling.
“This settlement agreement represents a fair effort by all parties to resolve this litigation, and the Supreme Court’s refusal to review the case resolves the most significant remaining hurdle to enforcement of the terms of the agreement,” Attorney General George Jepsen said today.
Under the settlement, Apple agreed to pay $400 million in compensation to eBook consumers and $50 million in other relief if it lost its appeal of the District Court’s ruling that the company played a central role in facilitating and executing a conspiracy designed to eliminate retail price competition in order to raise eBook prices. A total of $166 million in settlement funds have already been distributed to eBook consumers across the country through previous settlements with the five publishers involved in the price-fixing conspiracy.
Connecticut consumers are expected to receive approximately $6 million in restitution through this settlement, which will be issued in the form of credits from the various eBook sellers, as was done in the previous settlements; approximately $1 million will be deposited in the state’s General Fund.
