Apple’s e-book price fixing woes are not over. A New York judge has given the go-ahead for a group to collectively sue Apple for damages over its collusion with publishers to fix the price of electronic books.
Denise Cote, a judge at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, wrote in her approval of class status that “virtually all class members paid inflated prices for e-books as a result of a centralised price-fixing conspiracy”.
“If certification were not appropriate here, no antitrust class action could be certified,” she wrote.
The case dates back to 2012, when the US Department of Justice and 16 states filed lawsuits against Apple and publishers Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Holtzbrinck Publishers (better known as Macmillan), Penguin and Simon & Schuster, alleging they conspired to keep the price of e-books at a certain level.
The DoJ alleged the six companies worked together to counter Amazon’s strategy of reducing the price of new and best-selling e-books to $9.99. The five publishers settled out of court in late 2013, agreeing a payout of $166 million in refunds to 23 million customers – which were paid out this month. Actual refund amounts varied across territories, with customers from New York receiving 73c for catalogue titles to $3.06 for each copy of a best seller compared to more generous terms in Minnesota, where customers received 93c for catalogue titles and $3.93 for best sellers.
In approving the New York class status, Judge Cote rejected Apple arguments that each e-book purchase is unique and should be heard separately, and that the plaintiffs are not “similar” enough to have their cases heard together.
Apple is going before the courts in May to defend its position.
IDG News Service
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers