Three of the largest book publishers will shell out $69 million to settle antitrust claims by state attorneys general that they conspired to keep e-book prices artificially high. The preliminary settlement agreement was filed on Aug. 29 in Manhattan federal court by the publishersHachette Book Group Inc., HarperCollins Publishers and Simon & Schuster Inc.and the A.G.s of 49 states (all but Minnesota) and the District of Columbia. The states filed their complaint on the same day.
According to a statement from the Connecticut attorney general’s office, which led the investigation along with the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust division and the Texas A.G.’s office, the publishers will reimburse customers who purchased e-books from them and two non-settling publishing companies (The Penguin Group and MacMillan) between April 1, 2010, and May 21, 2012. Additionally, the publishers will pay $7.5 million to the states for fees and costs. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom represented HarperCollins; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer represented Hachette; and Proskauer Rose represented Simon & Schuster.
