Delaware E-book purchasers to receive over $1.3 million from lawsuit

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.

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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.

– Digital Partners -