Delaware residents who purchased electronic books – known as E-books – from a number of sources between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012, should begin receiving account credits or checks this week, as a result of the successful prosecution of a price-fixing case against Apple, Inc.
Delaware consumers are estimated to receive over $1,300,000 from this distribution of the Apple settlement, in addition to over $500,000 already paid to Delawareans from a settlement with E-book publishers. The amounts received by each customer will be based on the number of E-books purchased. Customers will receive $6.93 for each E-book purchased during the period that was a New York Times bestseller, and $1.57 each for all other E-books.
Customers who purchased E-books through Sony or Google will receive checks in the mail. Customers who purchased E-books through Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo will automatically receive credits in their accounts, unless they previously requested to receive checks.
Delaware joined with 33 other states in investigating and prosecuting Apple for its participation in the conspiracy to artificially inflate E-book prices. In July 2013, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Apple did conspire with five major U.S. Publishers – Penguin Group (USA), Inc. (now Penguin Random House); Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC d/b/a Macmillan; Hachette Book Group Inc.; HarperCollins Publishers LLC; and Simon & Schuster Inc.
Apple paid $400 million in nationwide consumer compensation after the United States Supreme Court denied Apple’s request to review the decision of a lower court that found Apple violated antitrust laws.
All five of the conspiring publishers settled prior to trial, paying a total of approximately $166 million in nationwide consumer compensation. Most of that money was distributed to consumers in March 2014. This new distribution consists of the $400 million Apple payment and additional funds remaining from the publisher settlements.
Anyone with questions about the settlement and distribution can visit www.ebooklawsuits.com or call (866) 686-9333 for more information.
