Penguin Settles Ebook Price Fixing Case For $75 Million Ahead Of Apple’s Trial

Last year, Apple and five other publishers were sued by the U.S. Department of Justice over alleged ebook price collusion. While all the other publishers have already agreed to settle with the DoJ, Penguin has now also confirmed it will pay $75 million in consumer damages, leaving Apple behind as the lone fighter in eBook collusion lawsuit whose trial kicks off on June 3rd (via The Next Web).

Apple ebooks

Pearson, Penguin’s parent publisher who recently settled with EU authorities as well, has today agreed to pay $75 million as well as additional costs, in order to bring an end to all antitrust claims relating to eBook pricing in the US. Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group and HarperCollins had previously agreed to settle for around the $70m mark. The Attorney General also confirmed the settlement earlier today, saying that the investigations and resulting litigation has recovered $164 million in the region so far.

“Consumers are entitled to a fair, open and competitive marketplace,” says Attorney General Jepsen. “This agreement is yet another step toward providing restitution to those consumers who were harmed by alleged price-fixing within the eBook market and will further ensure that, going forward, consumers benefit from fair competition in the sale of eBooks.”

Meanwhile, Apple continues to maintain its stance that Apple entering the e-book market has helped the overall market more than it hurt it.

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