The ebook price-fixing case has dragged on for a long while now. The five major publishers involved in the scandal have settled with the Justice Department, one after the other. And with their combined settlement offer, each customer may receive $3.06 per every book that was bought from either of these ebook publishers.
The five publishers which have been a part of this rather famous case include HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Macmillan. According to the case, the five publishers colluded with the likes of Apple to rig the price-fixing criterion of ebooks so that they couldn’t be sold below a certain price.
Such a move put Amazon at an immediate disadvantage but brought in money for the publishers. When Justice Department came after them, three of these publishers folded back in 2012 and decided to settle. The other two publishers, Penguin and Macmillan, tried to contest the case in the court but had little luck with it.
After a few months of fighting back, Penguin and Macmillan too have folded now, offering a settlement of $162.25 million. The settlement is expected to be finalized by December this year. Now, with all the combined settlement offers from the five publishers, it is estimated that customers who bought ebooks from either of these publishers stand to get back nearly $3.06 per every book they bought.
While the case has dragged on for a long while, it is good to note that those who colluded to charge the customers unfairly have to pay back for it.
Courtesy: Giga Om
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Hopefully Apple will be forced to spit out some of its cash hoard for this soon too.