Many Alabama e-book readers will soon be getting money back for their purchases.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Apple Inc.’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling in an e-book price fixing case, forcing the company to comply with a settlement with Alabama and over two-dozen other states.
The case dates back to 2013 when a U.S. District Court ruled that Apple was liable for conspiring with publishers to raise the price of e-books. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the ruling in June 2015.
The five major publishers involved were Penguin Group, Holtzbrinck Publishers, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, and Simon & Schuster. The companies were charged with inflating e-book prices, most likely as a reaction to Amazon pricing their e-books at $9.99. All five of the publishers settled prior to the trial and paid nearly $166 million in consumer compensation.
Alabama was one of 33 states that investigated and prosecuted the case against Apple. As a result, many Alabama readers will receive credit for e-books they purchased. The tech company will return $400 million to over 23 million e-book consumers and also pay $20 million in legal fees to the states involved in the lawsuit.
“This court action means that Apple will be held accountable for its price-fixing actions, and that consumers who were damaged will receive compensation for their losses,” said Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange. “This should send a message throughout the nation that such schemes will not be tolerated.”
Interestingly, the settlement will not just go to consumers who bought e-books through Apple’s iBooks store. Consumers who use Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes and Noble’s Nook will also be compensated. Customers in the United States who purchased New York Times bestsellers between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012 will receive $6.05 to $6.54 per e-book. Non-bestsellers will receive between $1.39 and $1.50 per book.
The ruling will ultimately be little more than a blip on the radar for Apple, though. At the end of last quarter, the tech giant had $216 billion cash on hand.
