E-book customers receive payouts for Apple price fixing

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money
Affected customers will get their share of Apple's $450 million payout.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Bringing an end to Apple’s long-running iBooks price fixing scandal, affected customers will today receive their settlement payment for books bought between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012.

Settlements work out at $1.57 for the majority of e-books, increasing to $6.93 for New York Times bestsellers. Publishers involved in the suit include the Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Group, and Simon & Schuster — all of whom were found guilty of colluding with Apple to fix e-book prices.

Payments are being made either in the form of iTunes/store credit or else a check, based on the preference expressed by individuals. In addition to buying books through Apple, damages are also being paid out to individuals who purchased books through Amazon, Kobo and Barnes & Noble.

The total amount of money this will cost adds up to $400 million, out of the total $450 million in damages that Apple was ordered to pay. The remaining $50 million will go on legal fees and to the states affected by the antitrust violation.

This lawsuit represents one of the most successful recoveries of damages in any antitrust suit in U.S. history, and adds up to more than twice the amount of losses suffered by affected e-book purchasers.

Source: Business Wire

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