DETROIT – Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says many Michigan consumers will soon start receiving account credits or checks after settlement with Apple, Inc. of a 2012 electronic books (e-books), price-fixing lawsuit.
Current payments to Michigan consumers could total as much as $10.1 million.
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Michigan was among 32 other states on the 2012 antitrust lawsuit brought against Apple, Inc. and five of the largest e-book publishers in the country. The suit alleged Apple conspired with book publishers to increase the retail price of e-books, causing prices for e-book editions of New York Times Best Sellers to increase from $9.99 to $12.99-$14.99, with a lesser increase for other e-books.
The e-book publishers settled claims against them in 2014 for a total nationwide payment of $166 million, $4.2 million of which was distributed to Michigan consumers. The claims against Apple went to trial.
Refund payments
Michigan consumers will receive an account credit or check beginning based on the number of eligible e-books purchased by the consumer during the claims period–April 1, 2010 to May 21, 2012.
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo customers will receive an email from the retailer notifying them of an account credit, unless a check was requested by an October 31, 2014 deadline.
Apple customers will receive an email from a third party settlement administrator, ebookssettlement@qgemail.com, notifying these customers of deposit of a credit in their account.
Eligible Sony customers will automatically receive a check in the mail while eligible Google customers will receive a check if they filed a claim by the October 31, 2014 deadline.
Eligible consumers should review their email for communications from their e-book retailer or from the settlement administrator regarding account credits or checks.
Generally refund amounts will equal $6.93 per New York Times bestseller e-books and $1.57 for each other e-book purchased during the claims period.
The preferred source of information for customers with questions is the lawsuit settlement administrator at http://www.ebooklawsuits.com or toll–free at (866) 686-9333.
Case background
In July 2013, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote (SD NY) issued an opinion finding that Apple violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act and analogous state antitrust laws and issued a permanent injunction against Apple with interim appointment of an external compliance monitor to oversee Apple’s antitrust compliance and training programs for two years.
Apple appealed the liability decision and certain terms of the injunction to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. During the pending appeals, the parties reached a provisional settlement, to become effective only on final resolution of all appeals.
In June 2015, the 2nd Circuit affirmed the District Court decision, holding that “Apple violated § 1 of the Sherman Act by orchestrating a horizontal conspiracy among the Publisher Defendants to raise e-book prices . . . .”
Apple filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. On March 7, 2016 the United States Supreme Court denied Apple’s petition, signaling an end to the lawsuit and a victory for Michigan consumers.