Attorney General Bondi Secures an Estimated $4.4 Million for Floridians in a National Settlement Regarding E-Book Price-Fixing
Contact: John Lucas Phone: 850.245.0150 john.lucas@myfloridalegal.com
Attorney General Bondi Secures an Estimated $4.4 Million for Floridians in a National Settlement Regarding E-Book Price-Fixing
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.–Attorney General Pam Bondi secured an estimated $4.4 million for Floridians in a national settlement with three of the nation’s largest publishers. Hachette Book Group (USA), HarperCollins Publishers L.L.C., and Simon & Schuster Inc. have agreed to pay more than $69 million to consumers around the country in order to resolve claims of an alleged unlawful conspiracy to fix the prices of electronic books. The final settlement amount is dependent on the number of claims made.
“Price-fixing raises costs to consumers and kills the competitive market,” stated Attorney General Pam Bondi. “This settlement will repay consumers affected by the price-fixing scheme and will restore competition in the electronic book market.”
Under the proposed settlement agreement, which the court must approve, Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster will compensate consumers who purchased E-books from those publishers, as well as Macmillian and Penguin, during the period of April 1, 2010 through May 21, 2012.
The proposed distribution plan is designed to facilitate the claims process. It is anticipated that about 97 percent of consumers will be given direct notice of the settlement by email. In addition to Florida, 54 attorneys general in other states, districts and U.S. territories were a part of this settlement.
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